Ponesrečena izstrelitev satelitov Galileo in vesoljski odpadki ( = Recent Galileo launch failure in the light of space debris)

In this paper, we present the problem of the increasing pollution of space with the objects that have been sent into space from 1957 onwards. For operating facilities, we describe the use of the two-line Keplerian elements (TLE) for the presentation of objects’ orbits, provided by monitoring services on a daily basis. Although the accuracy of the object position determination is in a range of a few kilometres, the obtained data represent an important basis for monitoring of the dynamics of active structures. More problematic are the facilities of uncontrolled moving objects through space, known as “space debris”. We present the history of events linked to space pollution and describe some examples of major pollution events. We conclude with the important developments in space in 2014 for the global satellite navigation system and its failure in the mission of two Galileo satellites. Despite their inability to reach the correct orbit, these satellites are not treated as space debris. The modern control equipment and the effort of control centre scientists’ managed to achieve the correction of the satellites’ orbit and add two objects as active in the TLE catalogue.