Questão 3167128

Text for items 16 to 20.

Experts warn that space debris is becoming a serious risk as more objects orbit Earth. The European Space Agency (ESA) says 1,200 pieces of rocket and satellite debris fell to Earth last year, and about 54,000 large objects are still in orbit. The ESA also warns of the Kessler Syndrome, where collisions between debris create even more dangerous fragments. This is why it is important to remove large, non‑working objects from orbit. France is currently the European country with the highest space debris risk, with over 500 pieces of junk and more than 100 satellites in orbit. Although France follows UN rules to reduce debris, experts say a large debris cascade could stop us from accessing space in the future. The UK and ESA have fewer debris pieces, with the UK’s being very low despite a large satellite fleet. ESA is working on better debris removal, but the legal ownership of debris and the lack of funding remain big problems. Global cooperation will be needed to solve this issue.

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According to the text, the main concern about space debris is