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TOPSHOT - This computer-generated image released by the European Space Agency (ESA) on April 15, 2008 shows trackable objects in Low Earth Orbit (LOE) around Earth. There are now more than 12 000 objects that are monitored in orbit, 11,500 pieces of which are in low Earth orbit, which is at an altitude of between 800 and 1500 kilometres (500 and 950 miles), where there are many commercial, military, scientific and navigational satellites. In low orbit, debris can stay adrift for decades before they eventually burn up in Earth's atmosphere. Another 1147 pieces are in geostationary orbit, about satellite orbits in the direction of the Earth's rotation, at an altitude of approximately 35,786 km (22,240 miles), where telecommunications satellites are typically deployed. AFP PHOTO / ESA / HO ---RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE--- (Photo by ESA / AFP) (Photo by -/ESA/AFP via Getty Images)