The International Space Station (ISS) had to perform three collision avoidance manoeuvres (CAM) in the year 2022 alone, in contrast with the total of 33 manoeuvres it has had to do since 1999.
The orbiting lab that houses a handful of astronauts and circles the earth at speeds of over 28,000kmph, at an altitude of 425kms, faces the constant risk of large and small objects that constitute space debris, said a top NASA scientist.
During a collision avoidance manoeuvre, the orbiting spacecraft fires its engines in order to move away and stay clear of an incoming object.