Recently, a United States and a Russian satellite collided in space, raising concerns with regards to the process of monitoring objects in orbit and underlining the importance of this measure.

Moreover, the incident has also shed light upon the fact that the systems aimed at monitoring such objects are yet to come to be up to par.

Currently, there are approximately 17,000 man-made objects over 10 cm in size orbiting the Earth, while the number is on the rise, which further increases the risk of objects in space colliding.

Richard Crowther, an expert on space debris and near-Earth objects, stated for BBC News that the event had been unfortunate yet inevitable, adding that the Iridium system of satellites occupied a significantly crowded altitude of low- Earth orbit, which had rendered it more likely to be affected by collisions between objects.

The commercial Iridium satellites group consisted in a network of 66 spacecrafts before the incident had taken place.

Still, experts have revealed that the accident had been highly unusual, since despite the fact that there had been several minor collisions as well as some near-misses, the incident had accounted for the first time that two intact satellites had crashed into each other.

Patrick Wood, head of satellites at EADS-Astrium, which is Europe's biggest space company, has stated that although the Iridium system comprised 66 satellites, there was still enough space so as to avoid collisions.

The two satellites had been traveling at hundreds of kilometers per hour the time they collided.