Space experts said Friday that the first-ever collision between two satellites has created clouds of debris and an estimated tens of thousands of pieces of space junk that could circle Earth and threaten other satellites for the next 10,000 years.

One expert called the collision "a catastrophic event" that he hoped would force President Barack Obama's administration to address the long-ignored issue of debris in space. A closer look at satellite tracking data provided by the UCS Satellite Database reveals that hundreds of operational satellites and tens of thousands of “junk” are actually orbiting Earth.

The collision was between a now-defunct Russian communications satellite launched in 1993 and one of 66 satellites privately owned by Iridium, a Maryland company that provides phone service to customers such as workers on offshore oil platforms. The collision happened not far from the orbit of a defunct weather satellite blown up by a ground-based missile in a Chinese weapons test in 2007. European and U.S. officials argue the resulting debris made it harder to identify crash risks.

There are currently 905 operational satellites in orbit, 443 of which belong to the U.S. government or companies. There are almost 6000 non-operational satellites plus another 10,000 to 11,000 pieces of debris that can be tracked (down to a size of 2 inches). It is estimated there are another 15,000 to 20,000 pieces of junk that is smaller to be able to be track in orbit at this time.

Vladimir Solovyov, chief of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS), told reporters today that "debris from the collision could stay in orbit for up to 10,000 years, and even tiny fragments threaten spacecraft, because both travel at such a high orbiting speed."

At the same time, Nicholas Johnson, NASA's chief scientist for space debris, says that's not correct. “Most of the debris will be down in decades, some perhaps as long as 100 or more years," Johnson says.

Iridium satellites orbit the Earth from pole to pole with some flying in one direction some in the other. They communicate with satellites immediately in front and behind them and to either side that are flying in the same direction. Independent groups that monitor satellite traffic say they could tell that the Iridium satellite and the Russian satellite were going to pass near each other, but because of other satellite traffic and space junk floating in the area, could not actually predict collision, according to published reports.

In January 2007, China destroyed one of its own defunct satellites with a ballistic missile at an altitude close to that of Tuesday's collision, creating thousands of pieces of debris which threatened other spacecraft.

The crash sent at least 600 pieces of debris off into space, officials said, increasing the risk that other satellites, including the vast International Space Station, which orbits 220 miles up, could be struck and damaged.