Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Katie Weaver.

And I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

This program is designed for English learners, so we speak a little slower and we use

words and phrases especially written for people learning English. Coming up on the show, we have

reports from John Russell and Brian Lynn.

Jill Robbins presents the Everyday Grammar Report.

And we close the show with The Lesson of the Day.

But first, here's Brian.

The European Space Agency, ESA, is reportedly in talks with America's SpaceX to cooperate in efforts to reduce the growing amount of space junk.

The talks, reported by Reuters News Agency, aimed to get the California-based space company

to join an international agreement that pushes for policies to fight space debris. It has been estimated

that SpaceX satellites represent about two-thirds of spacecraft currently in low-Earth orbit.

Space debris is anything that humans have put into space that is no longer in use.

This could include satellites, equipment, parts of rockets, or spacecraft.

Space junk orbits hundreds of kilometers above Earth.

It can circle Earth at speeds of about 25,000 kilometers per hour in low Earth orbit.

And it can cause major damage if it hits a space station, satellite, or spacecraft.

The international agreement that ASA wants SpaceX to join is called the Zero Debris Charter.

It seeks to stop any new orbital junk from being created by 2030.

The 22 members of ASSA have been seeking new members to join the agreement

since the agency announced it in

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