Pieces of unwanted debris left by humans in a low-Earth orbit have become the equivalent of a ‘new island of plastic’ in outer space, an expert warned.
According to scientific models, there are more than 128 million pieces of debris larger than 1 mm and 34,000 pieces larger than 10 cm.
It ranges from old rocket parts to flakes of paint that have been cut down by satellites
Ekaterini Kavvada, Director-General of Defense and Space at the European Commission, warned that this space debris ‘is not a theoretical threat but a reality’ – similar to the threat of floating islands of plastic in Earth’s oceans .
She added that the debris could damage active European and other satellites, adding that if we do not respond in a safe and timely manner, the consequences will be ‘adverse’.
Pieces of unwanted debris left by humans in a low-earth orbit have become the equivalent of a ‘new island of plastic’ in outer space, an expert warned (artist’s impression)
At the 13th European Space Conference, Ms. Kavvada said: ‘Around the space debris has become a new island of plastic – if I had to make the comparison – which poses a threatening threat to the safety and security of all traffic and space. sustainability. ‘
Fragments of spatial debris as small as 1 cm have the potential to completely destroy satellites because of the speed at which they move.
Artificial satellites are used in communications, such as satellite television and telephone calls, and navigation, which include the Global Positioning System (GPS).
These types of spacecraft also play a role in weather forecasting, storm detection and pollution and astronomy.
Ms Kavvada said that since January 2019, there have been more than 5,000 satellites in space, but only 2,000 are still active.
She said: “Hopefully – and this is why we cross our fingers every day – the satellites could possibly displace and mostly burn into the atmosphere when their lifespan is over.”
However, Ms Kavvada warned that there are still nearly 3,000 inactive satellites floating in space, and recent data suggests that more than 500 disruptions or explosions of these space objects have occurred, resulting in fragmentation.
She said the addition of network satellite sites, known as mega-constellations, could lead to space leading to Kessler syndrome – a chain reaction in which more and more objects collide to create new space junk to the point where the orbit of the earth has become unusable.
Ms Kavvada said: “It already sounds like a disaster waiting to happen.”
Rolf Densing, director of operations at the European Space Agency, who also spoke at the space conference, said: ‘We live in a time when the mega-constellations are being built, and the population of objects in an orbit around us is growing. with the thousands per year.
‘By now we have about 1,000 Starlink satellites in orbit.
“By the end of the decade, we’ll be talking about tens of thousands of satellites in orbit around us.”
Mr Densing said the ESA’s European Space Operations Center (ESOC) was receiving ‘hundreds of collision warnings’ on a fleet of about 20 satellites operated by the agency.
He said: “On average, we will have to fly with the collision avoidance maneuver every two weeks.”
Ms Kavvada said that limiting the production of litter, avoiding the generation of new waste and developing tools to remove current space debris, to ‘ensure long-term sustainable use of space’.
She said: ‘Even in a theoretical scenario in which no further objects are added to the spatial environment, the results of simulations emanating from ESA and NASA show that the critical density achieved in LEO (low-Earth orbit) , such that the mitigation alone is no longer sufficient. ‘
There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called ‘space junk’, but only 22,000 are followed (artist’s impression)
Ms Kavvada added: “Today, if we do not respond in a safe and timely manner … the consequences will be detrimental.”
Last year, the British government allocated seven private companies £ 1 million to help detect space debris as part of its space surveillance and tracking (SST) program.
The UK will also play a critical role in building The Claw, which is the first satellite to remove the debris.
Part of ESA’s Clearspace-1 mission planned for 2025, The Claw will use a pinch to collect debris, before gaining a controlled entry into the Earth’s atmosphere so it can decompose safely and away from life.
WHAT IS SPACE JUNK? MORE THAN 170 MILLION PIECES OF DEAD SATELLITES, ROCKETS AND LEVELS OF PAINT ARE ‘THREAT’ TO SPACE OPERATION
It is estimated that 170 million pieces of so-called ‘space junk’ – left behind on missions as large as the used rocket stages or as small as paint flakes – are in orbit along about 700 billion dollars (£ 555 billion) in space infrastructure. .
But only 22,000 are detected, and with the fragments moving at speeds of more than 27,000 km / h, even small pieces of satellite can be severely damaged or destroyed.
However, traditional gripping methods do not work in space, as suction cups do not function in a vacuum and the temperature is too cold for substances such as tape and glue.
Magnet-based grippers are useless because most debris in the orbit around the earth is not magnetic.
About 500,000 pieces of man-made waste (artist’s impression) are currently orbiting our planet, consisting of unused satellites, pieces of spacecraft and used rockets
Most solutions proposed, including debris harpoons, require or cause powerful interaction with the debris, which can push the objects in unintentional, unpredictable directions.
Scientists point to two events that have exacerbated the problem of space debris.
The first was in February 2009, when an Iridium telecommunications satellite and Kosmos-2251, a Russian military satellite, accidentally collided.
The second was in January 2007, when China tested an anti-satellite weapon on an old Fengyun weather satellite.
Experts have also pointed to two websites that have become alarmingly cluttered.
One is a low-Earth orbit used by satnav satellites, the ISS, China’s manned missions, and the Hubble Telescope, among others.
The other one is in a geostationary orbit and is used by satellites for communication, weather and observation that must maintain a fixed position with respect to the earth.