Searching for Conquering Earth’s space junk problem IELTS Reading Answers? Here is the full package in one place: the complete passage, all of Questions 27–40, the official answer key, and a detailed explanation for every single answer. The passage tracks the growing cloud of satellites and debris in orbit and the researchers racing to bring order to near-Earth space.

This passage is taken from Cambridge IELTS 18, Academic Test 1, Reading Passage 3 (Questions 27–40). It is a classic Passage 3 mix of locating information, one-word summary completion and matching statements to named people, so allow a little extra reading time. Try it untimed first, mark your answers, then study the explanations below to see exactly where the evidence sits. For the whole paper, see our Cambridge IELTS 18 Academic Reading Test 1 answers page, and when you are ready for guided training, try our free IELTS reading course.

Reading Passage 3

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27–40, which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

Conquering Earth’s space junk problem

Satellites, rocket shards and collision debris are creating major traffic risks in orbit around the planet. Researchers are working to reduce these threats

A Last year, commercial companies, military and civil departments and amateurs sent more than 400 satellites into orbit, over four times the yearly average in the previous decade. Numbers could rise even more sharply if leading space companies follow through on plans to deploy hundreds to thousands of large constellations of satellites to space in the next few years.

All that traffic can lead to disaster. Ten years ago, a US commercial Iridium satellite smashed into an inactive Russian communications satellite called Cosmos-2251, creating thousands of new pieces of space shrapnel that now threaten other satellites in low Earth orbit – the zone stretching up to 2,000 kilometres in altitude. Altogether, there are roughly 20,000 human-made objects in orbit, from working satellites to small rocket pieces. And satellite operators can’t steer away from every potential crash, because each move consumes time and fuel that could otherwise be used for the spacecraft’s main job.

B Concern about space junk goes back to the beginning of the satellite era, but the number of objects in orbit is rising so rapidly that researchers are investigating new ways of attacking the problem. Several teams are trying to improve methods for assessing what is in orbit, so that satellite operators can work more efficiently in ever-more-crowded space. Some researchers are now starting to compile a massive data set that includes the best possible information on where everything is in orbit. Others are developing taxonomies of space – working on measuring properties such as the shape and size of an object, so that satellite operators know how much to worry about what’s coming their way.

The alternative, many say, is unthinkable. Just a few uncontrolled space crashes could generate enough debris to set off a runaway cascade of fragments, rendering near-Earth space unusable. ‘If we go on like this, we will reach a point of no return,’ says Carolin Frueh, an astrodynamical researcher at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana.

C Even as our ability to monitor space objects increases, so too does the total number of items in orbit. That means companies, governments and other players in space are collaborating in new ways to avoid a shared threat. International groups such as the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee have developed guidelines on space sustainability. Those include inactivating satellites at the end of their useful life by venting pressurised materials or leftover fuel that might lead to explosions. The intergovernmental groups also advise lowering satellites deep enough into the atmosphere that they will burn up or disintegrate within 25 years. But so far, only about half of all missions have abided by this 25-year goal, says Holger Krag, head of the European Space Agency’s space-debris office in Darmstadt, Germany. Operators of the planned large constellations of satellites say they will be responsible stewards in their enterprises in space, but Krag worries that problems could increase, despite their best intentions. ‘What happens to those that fail or go bankrupt?’ he asks. They are probably not going to spend money to remove their satellites from space.’

D In theory, given the vastness of space, satellite operators should have plenty of room for all these missions to fly safely without ever nearing another object. So some scientists are tackling the problem of space junk by trying to find out where all the debris is to a high degree of precision. That would alleviate the need for many of the unnecessary manoeuvres that are carried out to avoid potential collisions. ‘If you knew precisely where everything was, you would almost never have a problem,’ says Marlon Sorge, a space-debris specialist at the Aerospace Corporation in El Segundo, California.

E The field is called space traffic management, because it’s similar to managing traffic on the roads or in the air. Think about a busy day at an airport, says Moriba Jah, an astrodynamicist at the University of Texas at Austin: planes line up in the sky, landing and taking off close to one another in a carefully choreographed routine. Air-traffic controllers know the location of the planes down to one metre in accuracy. The same can’t be said for space debris. Not all objects in orbit are known, and even those included in databases are not tracked consistently.

F An additional problem is that there is no authoritative catalogue that accurately lists the orbits of all known space debris. Jah illustrates this with a web-based database that he has developed. It draws on several sources, such as catalogues maintained by the US and Russian governments, to visualise where objects are in space. When he types in an identifier for a particular space object, the database draws a purple line to designate its orbit. Only this doesn’t quite work for a number of objects, such as a Russian rocket body designated in the database as object number 32280. When Jah enters that number, the database draws two purple lines: the US and Russian sources contain two completely different orbits for the same object. Jah says that it is almost impossible to tell which is correct, unless a third source of information made it possible to cross-correlate.

Jah describes himself as a space environmentalist: ‘I want to make space a place that is safe to operate, that is free and useful for generations to come.’ Until that happens, he argues, the space community will continue devolving into a tragedy in which all spaceflight operators are polluting a common resource.

Questions 27–40

Questions 27–31

The Reading Passage has six sections, A-F .

Which section contains the following information?

Write the correct letter, A-F , in boxes on your answer sheet.

27. a reference to the cooperation that takes place to try and minimise risk

28. an explanation of a person’s aims

29. a description of a major collision that occurred in space

30. a comparison between tracking objects in space and the efficiency of a transportation system

31. a reference to efforts to classify space junk

Questions 32–35

Complete the summary below.

Choose ONE WORD ONLY from the passage for each answer.

Write your answers in boxes on your answer sheet.

The Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee

• The committee gives advice on how the 32 ………… of space can be achieved. The committee advises that when satellites are no longer active, any unused 33 ………… or pressurised material that could cause 34 ………… should be removed.
• Although operators of large satellite constellations accept that they have obligations as stewards of space, Holger Krag points out that the operators that become 35 ………… are unlikely to prioritise removing their satellites from space.

Questions 36–40

Look at the following statements and the list of people below.

Match each statement with the correct person, A , B , C or D .

Write the correct letter, A , B , C or D , in boxes on your answer sheet.

NB You may use any letter more than once.

List of People

• A Carolin Frueh
• B Holger Krag
• C Marlon Sorge
• D Moriba Jah

36. Knowing the exact location of space junk would help prevent any possible danger.

37. Space should be available to everyone and should be preserved for the future.

38. A recommendation regarding satellites is widely ignored.

39. There is conflicting information about where some satellites are in space.

40. There is a risk we will not be able to undo the damage that occurs in space.

Conquering Earth’s space junk problem IELTS Reading Answers

Questions and Answers

Where two letters are shown for a single question, either order is accepted, exactly as in the official answer key.

Detailed Explanations for Conquering Earth’s space junk problem Answers

Questions 27–31

27. C — Cooperation against a shared risk is the theme of section C, which states that players in space are “collaborating in new ways to avoid a shared threat”. International guidelines and joint working groups are described there, matching the idea of teamwork to minimise risk.

28. F — A person’s aims appear in section F, where Jah calls himself a space environmentalist and declares: “I want to make space a place that is safe to operate”. The rest of his statement spells out his goal of keeping space useful for future generations.

29. A — The major collision is described in section A, where an Iridium satellite “smashed into an inactive Russian communications satellite” called Cosmos-2251. That crash created thousands of pieces of shrapnel, so A clearly holds the description.

30. E — The comparison with a transport system comes in section E: “Think about a busy day at an airport”, where planes are tracked to one metre while space debris is not. That contrast between air traffic control and orbiting objects is exactly what the item asks for.

31. B — Classification efforts belong to section B, which says that “Others are developing taxonomies of space” to measure properties such as shape and size. Working out how much to worry about an object is the classification the item describes.

Questions 32–35

32. sustainability — The committee’s advice is introduced in section C as bodies that “developed guidelines on space sustainability”. The summary phrase the sustainability of space mirrors that wording, so sustainability is the one word you need.

33. fuel — Still in section C, satellites at the end of their life should be inactivated by “venting pressurised materials or leftover fuel”. The summary reverses the order of the pair, but the missing word next to pressurised material is fuel.

34. explosions — The reason for venting is given in the same sentence: leftover fuel and pressurised material “might lead to explosions”. That danger word completes the summary, and it appears verbatim in section C.

35. bankrupt — Krag’s worry closes section C with the question “What happens to those that fail or go bankrupt?”. Operators who go bankrupt will not spend money removing satellites, which is why bankrupt fits the final gap.

Questions 36–40

36. C — Sorge argues that “If you knew precisely where everything was, you would almost never have a problem”. Precise tracking would remove most collision danger, which is the statement about exact locations preventing risk.

37. D — Jah wants space kept “free and useful for generations to come”, the closing ambition he states in section F. Preserving space for everyone in the future is his environmentalist message.

38. B — Krag notes that “only about half of all missions have abided by this 25-year goal”. A recommendation widely ignored points straight to the 25-year disposal rule, so B is correct.

39. D — Jah’s database example shows “two completely different orbits for the same object”, drawn from conflicting US and Russian catalogues. Conflicting information about satellite positions is therefore his point.

40. A — Frueh warns that “we will reach a point of no return” if crashes continue. A point beyond which damage cannot be undone is precisely the risk her statement describes.

Key Vocabulary from Conquering Earth’s space junk problem

Study Tips

Questions 27–31 ask you to find information across six lettered sections, and this passage hides answers in the middle of paragraphs rather than in topic sentences. Tag each section with a short label as you skim, because collaboration, aims, collision, comparison and classification all sit in different sections. The skimming and scanning technique guide shows how to do this in under a minute per section.

The summary in Questions 32–35 is ONE WORD ONLY, and every answer comes from one short stretch of section C. Locate the committee’s guidelines first and work through the summary in order, because the sentences follow the passage closely. Our summary completion strategy walks you through this word-hunting routine step by step.

Questions 36–40 match statements to four named people, so underline each person’s quote on your first read. The statements paraphrase the quotes, for example exact location becomes knew precisely where everything was, and ignored advice becomes only half abided by the goal. Since this is the hardest passage in the test, the how to handle Passage 3 guide is worth a read before you attempt it against the clock.

Practice More Cambridge Tests

If this passage stretched you, that is exactly what Passage 3 should do, and every review makes the next one easier. Simply IELTS can keep that progress going: start the free IELTS reading course for guided, timed practice, then move on to the Forest management in Pennsylvania, USA walkthrough from Passage 2 of the same test.

Want more practice at this position? Every Reading Passage 3 test on the site follows the same Cambridge format, and each one includes a complete answer key with explanations.