What you need to know about Iran today, with Matthew Doran.

Extract from ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran in Beirut

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

1 hours ago

A flash from an explosion is seen during an Israeli strike targeting a building in Beirut's southern suburbs. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

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Hello there. ABC Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran writing to you from Beirut today.

Here's your daily wrap of the latest news on the conflict spanning the Middle East at the end of day 25 of the war.

Iran war live updates: For all the latest news on the war in the Middle East, read our blog.

Here's what you need to know today:

• Israel has announced plans to occupy southern Lebanon, from the Blue Line — the name given to the Israel-Lebanon border after Israel last occupied the region — all the way north to the Litani River, the boundary of what has long been considered Hezbollah's heartland in the south. Hezbollah is promising to fight back.
• The Lebanese government is kicking the Iranian ambassador out of the country, giving him a deadline of Sunday to leave. Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, dragged Lebanon into the broader Middle Eastern war by firing upon Israel and has been accused of being an Iranian puppet, straying from its original ethos of resistance against Israel. Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) officials are among those who have been targeted by Israel in Beirut. Hezbollah says the ambassador shouldn't leave.
• Iran issued a fresh warning against Israel, promising to attack the Israeli military in Gaza and northern Israel if it targets civilians in Lebanon and Palestine. Israel continues to attack sites across Iran, targeting what it describes as "regime infrastructure." In response, Iran launched wave after wave of missiles at Israel, some hitting residential areas near Tel Aviv.
• Pakistan has thrown its hat into the ring to act as a mediator between the United States and Iran in an effort to end the war in the Gulf. It comes as there are continued mixed messages about whether talks are happening or not — Donald Trump saying negotiations are progressing, Iran adopting the US President's own turn of phrase and saying that's "fake news".

Here's what all that means

Israel's war against Hezbollah has taken a dangerous turn. But it's one many feared was coming the moment Israeli troops and tanks started pouring over the border into Lebanon a few weeks ago.

The Israeli defence minister, Israel Katz, said his country would seek to occupy southern Lebanon, from its border to the Litani River.

It's a serious step and comes with an objective that can keep that occupation open-ended — Israel promising it will hold that land for as long as is necessary to protect northern Israel from Hezbollah rocket fire.

I spoke to Ayoub Khreich, the mayor of Ain Ebel — a Lebanese Christian village just six kilometres from the Israeli border — before the occupation announcement.

I asked him whether he feared the military activity enveloping his town was the first step of occupation.

"Honestly, we cannot think that far ahead. We are still in shock," he said.

"We don't know what will happen, whether we will be allowed to live in peace.

"The most important thing is to protect our village and our people."

There is no excusing or avoiding Hezbollah's actions and responsibilities in this conflict. It has dragged Lebanon into a regional war by attacking Israel in solidarity with the Iranian regime in Tehran.

Israel has been attacking claimed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon almost daily, even despite a ceasefire agreement back in November 2024.

Katz has said this is a result of the Lebanese government's inaction and ineptitude in dealing with Hezbollah, which is considered a terrorist organisation in many countries, including Australia.

But it was the Israeli occupation of southern Lebanon, from 1982 to 2000, that served as the catalyst for Hezbollah's existence as a resistance movement.

Returning to that period, if Israel actually followed through on this occupation plan, it could strengthen the resolve of Hezbollah, however outgunned it is by Israel.

The one thing that is clear is that the Lebanese state and population will struggle to deal with this. They're already at breaking point after more than three weeks of Israeli strikes, with more than a million people displaced across the country.

And even if there is some breakthrough in negotiations between the US and Iran, there's no suggestion the war in Lebanon will end at the same time the broader conflict is resolved.

Here's the impact on Australia

• Australia is already in a fight with its biggest threats: A new report by former defence leaders says Australia needs to fight back against big US tech companies that are exacerbating fossil fuel dependence and climate disinformation. Retired Admiral Chris Barrie said: "There has been a failure to understand how energy dependence on fossil fuels will cause both economic disruption and more perilous physical conditions for Australians. "Now the two issues are colliding. We are facing an unprecedented energy crisis [made] worse by the world's failure to face its fossil fuel addiction."

Russia fires nearly 400 drones in deadly attack on Ukraine, with UNESCO site targeted.

 Extract from ABC News

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

54 minutes ago

Firefighters tackle a blaze in a building hit by a Russian drone strike in downtown Lviv. (Reuters)

In short: 

Three people have been killed and 30 wounded in a rare daytime attack on Ukraine by Russia that has also damaged a UNESCO site. 

It followed an overnight bombardment that killed five people across Ukraine and disrupted power supplies to Moldova. 

Since Monday evening, Russia has used a record 948 drones against the country, Ukraine's air force has said.

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A rare Russian daytime drone attack on Ukraine has killed at least three people, wounded 30 and set a building in the centuries-old centre of western Lviv aflame, officials have said, following an overnight bombardment that killed five people across the country.

Over 400 drones were launched at Ukraine in the middle of the day, Ukraine's air force said, an abrupt change from Russia's usual tactic of launching similarly massive aerial attacks at night during its more than four-year-old war.

Video footage posted online showed a drone crashing into an old building next to a church in the historic centre of Lviv, some 60 kilometres from the Polish border.

UNESCO site hit, casualties mount

In another western Ukrainian city, Ivano-Frankivsk, two people were killed and four injured, according to regional Governor Svitlana Onyshchuk. 

City mayor Ruslan Martsinkiv said windows at a maternity hospital had been blown out, but that nobody in the hospital was harmed.

What life looks like for Ukrainians who fled and can never return

As Russian forces took control of their cities, millions of Ukrainians fled. Many still live as refugees, fearing they may never see their families or home towns again.

Vinnytsia Governor Natalia Zabolotna said on Telegram that one person had been killed and 11 wounded in her region.

Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said a residential building was hit by a second drone, while debris from a third drone fell in a street.

"Russia is attacking a crowded city centre in broad daylight," Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko wrote on X.

Smoke rises in the city after Russian drone strikes, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in central Lviv.  (Reuters )

Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyi said part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site around the 17th century St Andrew's Church had been damaged.

Air defences also engaged drones throughout the day near Kyiv.

Ukraine's air force posted warnings on social media of drones overhead in more than a dozen areas across the country.

Officials in Vinnytsia and Ternopil, both several hundred kilometres from the frontline, said explosions were heard in their cities and residents had been told to remain in shelters.

Overnight attack

The daytime strikes came after a wave of overnight strikes that killed five people across Ukraine and caused disruption to power supplies in Moldova. 

Two people were killed and 12 injured, including a five-year-old child, in the attack near the eastern city of Poltava, a regional official said.

Ukraine downed 541 out of 556 attack drones launched by Russia in an unusual daytime attack, Kyiv's air force said on Tuesday, local time.

Since Monday evening, Russia has used a record 948 drones against the country, the air force said.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said damage had been reported in 11 regions, and issued a new appeal for allies to supply Kyiv with air defence munitions.

An apartment building that was hit by a Russian drone strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Dnipro.  (Reuters)

He has repeatedly warned that Kyiv, whose main supplier of air defence systems against ballistic missiles is the United States, will face a deficit of missiles while Washington is focused on the US-Israeli war on Iran.

"It's important to continue supporting Ukraine. It's important that all agreements on air defence are implemented on time," he said on X.

Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said the Isaccea–Vulcanesti power line, Moldova's key link with Europe, had been affected.

Moldovan President Maia Sandu wrote on X: "Alternative routes are in place, but the situation remains fragile. Russia alone bears responsibility."

Reuters

EU leader urges democracies to band together in 'upside down' world.

Extract from ABC News

By foreign affairs correspondent Stephen Dziedzic

• Topic:World Politics

14 hours ago

Ursula von der Leyen is the first female world leader to address Australia's federal parliament. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

In short:

The president of the European Commission has urged democracies to band together against a "brutal" world as she addressed Australia's parliament.

Ursula von der Leyen also warned that Australia's geographic distance no longer protected it and said "getting China right" was a strategic imperative.

What's next?

The European Commission leader said Australia and Europe must rearm and decarbonise to try and break economic and energy dependencies on China and Russia.

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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has struck a grim tone during a landmark address to federal parliament, saying democracies must band together in the face of a "brutal, harsh and unforgiving" world that has been turned "upside down".

The president also declared that Europe and Australia must rearm and decarbonise as they try to break economic and energy dependencies on China and Russia.

Australia and European Union to sign free trade agreement

Australia's right to make and sell prosecco is expected to be protected under a free trade pact set to be signed with the European Union.

"The world we live in is brutal, harsh and unforgiving. It feels upside down. What we knew as certainties are in question," she said.

She also alluded to the strategic chaos stoked by US President Donald Trump's administration, saying Europe recognised it needed to embrace a more independent strategic posture.

"The comfort blanket of yesterday is ripped away. It is confronting," she told the joint sitting.

"But the world we are living in is also a more honest one. We are saying out loud what has changed and how we are changing."

The European Commission president — who was the first female world leader to address federal parliament — said Australia's distance from the rest of the world no longer protected it, or provided any meaningful barriers to its relationship with Europe.

"Distance is no longer a protection or a luxury. The world has changed, but we get to choose how to shape our responses," she said.

"While we have not always maximised this potential, our kinship has always bound us. And our cultures have always understood one another."

Ursula von der Leyen, with Anthony Albanese, says world democracies must stick together. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)

'Getting China right' is imperative

Ms von der Leyen said the "unimaginable" sight of North Koreans "fighting Ukrainians on European soil" was a powerful symbol of how authoritarian regimes were increasingly banding together against democracies.

And she celebrated the new security partnership signed by the European Union and Australia, saying it would help bolster defence industrial cooperation.

"As our adversaries adapt to cooperate together, we too must respond together," she said.

"Because when we stand side-by-side we are stronger."

The president warned that China's vast exports were undercutting Europe's economic model and forcing it towards de-industrialisation, urging Australia to back its efforts to rebalance global trade.

"Both the threat to our supply-chain security and the shock to our industrial base need urgent responses," she said.

"These are responses we can only devise together. For both Europe and Australia, getting China right is a strategic imperative."

Australia has agreed to liberalise access to critical minerals for Europe under a free trade deal unveiled today, and Ms von der Leyen said the suite of agreements would bring real strategic benefits to both sides.

"We cannot be over-dependent on any supplier for such crucial ingredients. And that is precisely why we need each other," she said.

"Our security is your security. And with our new security partnership, we have each other's backs."

She also said that decarbonisation and green energy was a "defining pillar" of the new free trade agreement, saying climate change was "ravaging Europe" and taking steps to cut pollution was "hard-headed commonsense".

"We all know what we are seeing is more severe. Dorothea Mackellar wrote of Australia's droughts and flooding rains affecting your sunburnt country," she said.

"But the point is these climatic events have become more frequent and more intense. And it is our common responsibility to find solutions to power the planet we leave our children."

Israel says it is planning to occupy southern Lebanon from the Blue Line to the Litani River.

Extract from ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran in Beirut

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

7 hours ago

Smoke and flames rise from an Israeli air strike that hit the Qasmiyeh Bridge in Lebanon. (AP Photo/Mohammad Zaatari)

In short:

Israel's defence minister Israel Katz has announced plans to take control of southern Lebanon.

He added that the military had destroyed five bridges over the Litani River because he claimed Hezbollah was using them.

What's next?

Hundreds of thousands of people internally displaced will not be allowed to return to their homes, many fearing an ongoing occupation mirroring the last one from 1982 to 2000.

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Israel's defence minister has announced plans for his country's military to take control of southern Lebanon, from the Israeli border, known as the Blue Line, to the Litani River.

Residents of southern Lebanon have been fearing Israel's recent military action against the Iranian-backed militant group Hezbollah could be the precursor to a period of ongoing occupation, similar to what Israel did from 1982 to 2000.

Intense Israeli bombardment of claimed Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, and the southern suburbs of Beirut, has so far killed more than 1,000 people. More than 100 children are among them.

The United Nations has said more than one million people are also displaced as a result of the conflict, putting immense strain on Lebanon's limited and at times non-existent support services.

Defence Minister Israel Katz is describing the move as the creation of a "security zone".

During a briefing in Tel Aviv Mr Katz said the Israeli military had destroyed five bridges over the Litani River which they claim Hezbollah had been using, adding Israel would seek to control all other river crossings.

"Hundreds of thousands of residents of southern Lebanon who evacuated north will not return south of the Litani River until security is guaranteed for residents of the north," he said.

"The principle is clear: there is terror and missiles, there will be no homes and residents — and the IDF will be inside.

"We will not allow a return to the situation of October 7. We promised to bring security to residents of the north, and that is exactly what we will do."

Israel has faced criticism for the destruction of bridges in the south, accused of wilfully destroying civilian infrastructure and isolating small communities.

Hezbollah will fight to prevent Israeli troops from occupying southern Lebanon, one of the group's top lawmakers Hassan Fadlallah told Reuters, saying such an occupation would pose an "existential threat" to Lebanon as a state.

Villages to be demolished

It has been three weeks since Hezbollah dragged Lebanon into the broader regional war, firing upon Israel in solidarity with the Iranian regime in Tehran.

Many towns and cities in the south have been hit by attacks, and the Hezbollah stronghold suburb of Dahiyeh in Beirut's south has also been repeatedly hit.

The US Ambassador to Lebanon, Michel Issa, had said last week that the United States asked Israel to spare Christian communities in the south.

Lebanon's justice minister told the ABC the militant group, considered a terrorist organisation under Australian law, had effectively given Israel an excuse to attack Lebanon and pursue its territorial ambitions north of its current borders.

What you need to know about Iran today, with Matthew Doran.

Extract from ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran in Beirut

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

1 hours ago

A firefighter hoses down rubble at a residential building in Tehran. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

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G'day. ABC Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran here, writing to you from Beirut.

I'm bringing you a daily wrap up of the latest on the war engulfing the Middle East – today is day 24 of the conflict.

Impact on our region: Ian Verrender on how an oil shortage also hurts China

Here's what you need to know today:

• Donald Trump has backed down on his threat to attack Iranian power stations if the country doesn't open the Strait of Hormuz to all shipping traffic. The US President on Saturday issued a deadline of 48 hours for Iran to stop choking the major global shipping route, but he now says there have been solid talks with Iran and he'll press pause on that. 
• But Iranian state media said there had been no direct talks between Washington and Tehran – instead, pointing to efforts by regional players to "reduce tensions", suggesting other countries had effectively been acting as intermediaries.
• Even with debate about the method of any talks, the news was welcomed by global markets. The oil price dropped significantly and stocks rose. 
• Meanwhile, Israel continues attacking Iran and Lebanon, with Israeli media citing officials within the Netanyahu government saying the Trump backdown could be viewed as a sign of weakness by Tehran. An Israeli drone killed a member of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Beirut, in a predominantly Christian residential suburb of the city.
• Lebanon's Justice Minister has told the ABC that Hezbollah continues to give Israel excuses to attack, and the only chance of achieving peace in the country is for the Iranian-backed militant group to lay down its weapons.  

Here's what all that means

There’s a term coined by those working in financial markets that continues to gain prominence: TACO – Trump Always Chickens Out.

Unsurprisingly, it's a phrase the president bristles at. But once again, it’s being bandied around in the wake of his decision to back away from his threat to start bombing Iranian power stations.

Mr Trump had given Tehran 48 hours to open the Strait of Hormuz, without any restrictions, or he would “obliterate” the facilities. In response, Iran said it would attack energy and critical infrastructure across the Middle East. Cue some frantic back-channelling by regional players — given everyone is very concerned about further escalation — and Mr Trump has said Iran is talking to Washington, with a deal in the offing very soon. 

Iranian state media, also unsurprisingly, is suggesting Mr Trump is on the back foot and looking for ways out of this war. And the speaker of the country's parliament said there had been no talks held.

"Fake news is used to manipulate the financial and oil markets and escape the quagmire in which the US and Israel are trapped," Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf posted on X.

There's little doubt both sides are playing to their domestic audiences. Both arguments could also have some truth to them. In this war so far, we've seen how barrages of missiles have been accompanied by intense propaganda. Selling the war is often just as heavy a task as conducting it – perhaps even harder, at times.

The markets have certainly responded positively – whether it's a TACO or some other outcome.

Whether Israel toes the Trump line remains to be seen. The US president has considerable sway over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But the latter has also been accused of going rogue in recent days, including by Mr Trump himself when Israel attacked Iran's South Pars gas field.

Israel and the US are conducting major air strikes across Iran and Israel is continuing its attacks through Lebanon too. We got a sense of that overnight, during a brief foray into the Hezbollah stronghold suburb of Dahiyeh, in south Beirut.

The Iranian-backed militant group tightly controls media access to the area, considered a terrorist organisation under Australian law. We were watched very closely by a man on a scooter, making sure we only ventured to certain areas in one corner of the suburb.

The damage we witnessed was extensive. One multi-storey building had been razed. A bobcat was being used to start some of the clean-up – a scene which seemed akin to bailing out the Titanic with a bucket.

Our time inside the "red zone", the area Israel has demanded people leave from or risk being caught in future strikes, was brief. But it was remarkable to see how many people were still in the suburb, driving and riding past us. Some refuse to leave. Others have nowhere to go.

Israel insists Hezbollah is a grave threat to its north – and Israelis in the upper Galilee were told to stay near shelters for part of the afternoon on Monday, with the IDF fearing multiple Hezbollah rocket attacks. 

The IDF has been forced to concede that a man killed on the Israeli side of the border on Sunday local time, whose death was attributed to a rocket from Lebanon, was actually killed by Israeli artillery fire.

It is rare to see such a concession from Israel — even more so given how soon after the event it was.

And here's the impact on Australia

• Exclusive interview: The head of the International Energy Agency tells ABC 7.30 this is the greatest global energy threat in history and it could get worse (▶️ 8m54s).

What you need to know about Iran today, with Matthew Doran.

Extract from ABC News

By Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran in Beirut

• Topic:Unrest, Conflict and War

2 hours ago

Israel destroyed a bridge in Lebanon on Sunday, local time, in a move the Lebanese president said was a "prelude" to a ground invasion. (Reuters: Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

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G'day, ABC Middle East correspondent Matthew Doran here in Beirut.

Here's your daily round-up of everything happening in the war across this region after another busy weekend.

Iran war live updates: ABC on the ground with 'alive and well' Netanyahu

Here's what you need to know today:

• Iran has issued a grave threat against much of the Middle East, warning what will happen if US President Donald Trump follows through on his ultimatum to "obliterate" Iranian power plants if the country refuses to fully reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping by the early hours of Tuesday, local time. Iran's parliamentary speaker said energy facilities and critical infrastructure across the region would be "irreversibly destroyed".
• That threat and counter-threat will likely send shock waves through global stock markets when they reopen today. Oil, for example, is already at its highest levels in four years. And in a sign of how much that irks the Trump administration, it has decided to lift sanctions on Iranian oil to try to ease market pressure.
• Iran has launched wave after wave of missiles at Israel over the weekend, in some of the biggest strikes of the war, now ending its 23^rd day. About 200 people were injured in Israel's south when missiles hit the towns of Arad and Dimona. That's near Israel's nuclear facility, but Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the sites have not been jeopardised.
• Further north, the Israeli military has launched major air strikes across southern Lebanon, hitting bridges connecting towns and cities to the rest of the country. Israel's defense minister has also ordered the demolition of Lebanese homes along the border to protect Israel in a move akin to what the Israel Defense Forces did in Gaza. Earlier, a Hezbollah rocket killed a man in northern Israel.
• In the Gulf, the United Arab Emirates has been forced to continue intercepting drones and missiles. The anger across the Arabian Peninsula over Iranian retaliatory attacks has prompted the Saudi government to kick four Iranian diplomats and the embassy's defence attaché out of the country — something Qatar did last week.

Here's what all that means

The world could be about to witness yet another dramatic, deadly and dangerous escalation in the war. Yes, there's still room for this to get far worse.

On Saturday, Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform, where he frequently announces major changes in policy in his own unique style, to issue a 48-hour deadline to Iran.

If Iran doesn't stop throttling the Strait of Hormuz, one of the most important global shipping routes, he wrote, "the United States of America will hit and obliterate their various POWER PLANTS, STARTING WITH THE BIGGEST ONE FIRST!". (Emphasis added by the occupant of the Oval Office, not this correspondent).

Never one to shy away from rhetorical escalation, Iran hit back. The speaker of the nation's parliament, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, weighed in, posting on X that if Iran was attacked in such a way, "critical infrastructure, and energy and oil infrastructure throughout the region, will be considered legitimate targets and irreversibly destroyed, and oil prices will rise for a long time".

There have already been major hits across the region. One in Qatar will take years to repair and cost the country's budget $US20 billion ($28 billion) a year in lost earnings. Apocalyptic scenes were witnessed across Tehran when Israel attacked fuel depots it said were part of the war machine, with clouds of black smoke choking the city.

Iran insists the strait is open to traffic — just not to ships linked to its "enemies", the United States and Israel. But if things don't change, and Mr Trump follows through on his threat, things could explode (quite literally) even further.

The US president has been criticising world leaders for not joining efforts to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, admonishing them publicly while also insisting the US doesn't need their help. Israel's prime minister has echoed sentiments around collective action.

Many have speculated about Benjamin Netanyahu's demise and suggested images showing his recent appearances have been generated by AI.

But he was seen in person — including by our correspondent Kathryn Diss — touring a site in Dimona, where Iranian missiles injured dozens on Saturday night.

"Israel and the United States are working together for the entire world, and it's time to see the leaders of the rest of the countries join up," he said. "I'm happy to say that I can see some of them beginning to move in that direction, but more is needed."

Here's the impact in Australia

• Markets are (still) getting it all wrong: That's the upshot from the ABC's Alan Kohler, who sees a "bonkers" reaction on global indices as an indication of how much traders really want to believe everything will be OK.

Space junk is cluttering Earth's low orbit with high-velocity projectiles and it's getting worse.

 Extract from ABC News

• By Gavin McGrath

• Topic:Satellites

1 hours ago

Rows of Starlink internet satellites about to be released from their launch vehicle. (Wikimedia: SpaceX/CC0)

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The galaxy stretches out as a hazy band across a dark south-eastern Australian night sky.

All is still, apart from the steady blinking of a high-altitude jet plane.

A "star" appears to streak across the sky, then another, then another … dozens in a row. All along the same path.

The "stars" are newly released Starlink satellites before they spread out to their final positions.

Starlink is an internet satellite constellation of about 9,600 small spacecraft in low orbit around the Earth.

A Starlink train, as viewed from the International Space Station. (Supplied: NASA)

They represent little more than half of active satellites but a mere fraction of artificial objects now circling the globe.

Space above the Earth is filling with clutter.

Computer scientist and space junk enthusiast Mars Buttfield-Addison says there are about 33,000 objects large enough to be individually identified from the Earth's surface.

That doesn't account for debris too small to be seen or observed using telescopes and ground-based radar.

Ms Buttfield-Addison, who is completing a PhD at the University of Tasmania focused on tracking space debris, said about 17,500 satellites have been put into orbit since 1957 and more than two-thirds of those (about 12,000) have been launched in the past six years.

However, the overall number of individual pieces of space junk is unknown.

Computer scientist and space junk enthusiast Mars Buttfield-Addison. (Supplied: Brand Tasmania)

"The number of things that we have put up there, as in whole objects that we put in space, is much less than that 33,000 figure," Ms Buttfield-Addison said.

"Sometimes they hit each other and get smashed into lots of tiny objects, and we then count those as separate objects.

"If we guess based on the pock-marking seen on shielding of crewed spacecraft that come back down, or things that we know about the properties of the drag in the upper atmosphere, or about the history of those kind of collisions that we see, we actually think there are millions of smaller fragments which are just too small for us to reliably see from the ground and catalogue."

The number of objects in space is increasing. (Supplied: Mars Buttfield- Addison)

Despite an ever-increasing amount of space debris orbiting the globe, actual collisions are rare.

The number of individual objects may be large, but space is larger still.

"You must think about how huge space is," Ms Buttfield-Addison said.

"It is a lot huger even than the number of objects we've put up there, so they're not very close together by any means."

However, there are orbits that are more cluttered than others.

The so-called geostationary ring, which is 35,786km above the equator, is where objects orbit at the same rate the Earth spins.

That means, from the point of view of someone on the ground, the object maintains a fixed position in the sky.

Scientists in the past had considered this ring to be the most likely to become overcrowded, but the more recent proliferation of objects in low Earth orbit (less than 1,000km above the surface) has meant this zone is now the one of greatest concern.

This is compounded by the orbital velocity needed to stay aloft in the low Earth orbit zone, which is 27,500km/h or more, and once satellites and space junk are on a collision course, there is little to prevent them from hitting.

Puncture damage to the space shuttle Atlantis caused by micro-meteoroid orbital debris. (Supplied: NASA)

Spacecraft in low Earth orbit rarely have propulsion capability, to reduce cost and complexity.

"They're not sophisticated spacecraft," Ms Buttfield-Addison said.

"Even if we find out two craft are heading towards smashing into each other, there might not be anything we can do about it if neither of them is capable of moving."

A millimetre-scale object punched a hole straight through Canadarm2, part of the International Space Station. (Supplied: A. Mogensen, NASA)

Night sky wanderers

Many satellites can be seen with the naked eye, despite their modest size, even though they don't emit light themselves.

Ms Buttfield-Addison said the best times to see them were just before sunrise or after sunset.

A long-exposure image shows a Starlink satellite train moving across the night sky. (Wikimedia: Jud McCranie/ CC-BY-SA-4.0)

"It's this very specific kind of glint mechanism where, as soon as the sky behind it is dark enough, but the sun is not too far below the horizon, sunlight is glinting off those objects," she said.

"Most people when they're like, 'Oh, I look up at the sky and I see satellites all the time', it's because they happen to be looking just after the sun goes down."

The three BIRDS-3 Project micro-satellites, developed by Japan, Nepal and Sri Lanka. (Supplied: Nick Hague)

Identifying them is more challenging but observers can pinpoint many, though, using a combination of optical telescopes and radar.

"We can recognise a surprising number of them, actually," Ms Buttfield-Addison said.

"We'll use optical telescopes and we can see some larger things, like the International Space Station.

"But we also use radars and they give us an impression of the shape of a thing, which is often quite a bit more informative than what you see through a telescope.

"For example, maybe you see a tiny white square. Many small satellites are the same colour, the same shape."

A 'cubesat' called RemoveDEBRIS, was intended to test space debris removal technologies. (Supplied: NASA, Expedition 56 crew)

While a lot of satellites in low Earth orbit are helping deliver internet, Ms Buttfield-Addison said that's just a fraction of the space objects catalogued.

"Those we've catalogued include everything from tiny micro-satellites to huge space stations that people can go inside,"

Ms Buttfield-Addison said.

"Most of them are halfway between those two and they're doing infrastructure jobs we don't really think about every day."

That's no moon

One low Earth orbit satellite that is relatively easy to pinpoint is the International Space Station.

At 109 metres in length, it is the largest spacecraft yet produced and is continually crewed by a rotating roster of up to seven astronauts and cosmonauts at a time.

The International Space Station photographed from the space shuttle Atlantis in 2011. (Supplied: NASA)

The ISS orbits at 27,600km/h and passes overhead every 93 minutes.

Even at that speed, it has to be boosted once a month to maintain its orbit of about 420km above the surface due to atmospheric drag.

Its size and low orbit mean the ISS is a bright object, but only just after sunset or before sunrise when it reflects sunlight.

"There are loads of websites that can tell you what direction it's in," Ms Buttfield-Addison said.

"It will go around Earth every 90 minutes but in the meantime we have moved, which means it's not visible in the same place each time.

"You can look at a tracking website or join an astronomy club and, if you get a relatively good camera or a telescope, that'll help you find it."