Hundreds of millions of space debris are flying overhead, from pebble-sized debris flying around the Earth at speeds of about 17,000 miles per hour, to bus-sized satellites and rocket wreckage. Active satellites help us communicate, understand and navigate the world. But the chaotic and dynamic entanglement of space junk in low-Earth orbit is a big problem with no easy solution. And we are creating new space junk every day. Here’s everything you need to know:
What is space debris?
According to NASA, space debris “includes both natural meteor bodies and man-made (artificial) orbital debris.” Humans have little control over meteor bodies, so, except perhaps when launching them out of orbit from Earth, NASA uses orbital debris, or “artificial objects that are in Earth’s orbit and no longer serve a useful function.” It focuses on “non-functioning spaceships, abandoned rocket stages, mission-related debris, and fragmented debris”.
The amount of orbital debris is increasing exponentially. The world used to send about 80 to 100 satellites into orbit every year, and that number will exceed 1,000 by 2020 and 2,000 by 2022, with more countries and companies launching satellite games each year. are participating in According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, there were about 1,700 satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) in 2016, and this year he had 5,400. 57,000 could be in his LEO by 2030.
ASTRIAgraph map from the University of Texas shows how crowded the sky is. The more satellites there are in LEO, the more likely they are to collide, creating a large amount of new orbital debris.
According to NASA, there are currently about 23,000 orbiting debris larger than a softball, 500,000 debris larger than a marble, and about 0.4 inch (1 mm) or larger debris orbiting Earth. There are 100 million shards. The Pentagon’s Space Surveillance Network (SSN) tracks about 27,000 pieces of orbital debris over two inches in diameter. Bhavya Lal of NASA’s Office of Technology, Policy, and Strategy said:
Why is NASA worried about orbital debris?
NASA notes that the increase in orbital debris is becoming an increasing danger to “all spacecraft, including the International Space Station and other human-occupied spacecraft such as SpaceX’s Crew Dragon.” I’m here. Given this orbital debris velocity, “even a small speck of paint could damage the spacecraft.” An object the size of a blueberry orbiting the Earth “has the kinetic energy of an anvil falling,” while tens of thousands of objects the size of a softball “have the kinetic energy of a large bomb.” traceable debris of Arstecnica report.
If you want to see the damage that orbital debris can do to the International Space Station, watch this movie. gravity.
Why should non-astronauts worry?
Stephanie Condon points out, “Sometimes space junk debris bursts through the atmosphere and hits Earth.” ZDNetIn fact, 23 tons of space debris from a Chinese rocket that unexpectedly failed in November “fallen safely and thankfully into the South-Central Pacific Ocean,” she added, citing responsible stewardship of low-Earth orbit. None, “randomly falling space junk continues to threaten Earthlings with physical harm.”
Moriba Jaa, an astrophysicist and orbital debris expert at the University of Texas at Austin, said, “either (1) an object the size of a school bus re-enters, survives re-entry and hits a populated area, or (2) ) will result in loss of life.” People on this wave of private and commercial astronauts basically have their vehicles wrecked by unforeseen crap. ’ In fact, he said Arstecnica“We predict that both of these things will happen in the next decade.”
Beyond the possibility that ‘randomly falling space junk’ could kill people on Earth, ‘clashes in space can disrupt every aspect of everyday life’ ZDNetadds Condon. “There is a growing list of services that rely on satellites to function, such as communication tools, means of navigation, and financial services, just to name a few.”
Who is responsible for space junk?
“Ultimately, under international law, codified in treaties and agreements from 1967 to 1972, liability for damage and harmful interference rests squarely on the shoulders of the parties to the treaty,” Moriba said. Jah says. ArstecnicaUnder Article 11 of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, governments are responsible for approving and overseeing all objects that go into space, so ultimately “companies are not responsible for their actions. The state is responsible,” he added. So if a Starlink satellite crashes into and damages China’s Tiangong space station, the US government is at stake, not Elon Musk.
“Governments are licensing and authorizing so they can hold their citizens accountable,” says Jah. “What needs to happen is that countries need to pass national space laws that encourage environmental protection and sustainability.”
What can be done about the orbital debris problem?
The U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which regulates much of the activity of U.S. commercial satellites, announced in September that satellite operators will have to install orbital hardware within five years of the satellite completing its mission. adopted regulations requiring the safe disposal of Under previous U.S. guidelines, he advised companies to deorbit satellites 25 years after the mission ended.
“Twenty-five years is a long time,” said FCC Chairman Jessica Rosenworthel. “The second space age has arrived. For it to continue to grow, we need to do more to clean up after ourselves so space innovation can keep up.” .”
The five-year rule “has not yet been fully accepted by the international community, or even by all members of Congress in the United States.” ZDNetWritten by Condon of But “the space industry has many advocates because, like Jah, they understand that space is a shared, finite resource.”
The United Nations has also passed a resolution aimed at reducing the amount of orbital debris from the deliberate destruction of satellites by testing anti-satellite missile systems (ASAT). The United States, which voluntarily banned her ASAT test in April, proposed a draft resolution, which 155 countries voted in favor on 7 December. Nine countries, including Russia and China, voted against the resolution.
Russia used an ASAT missile to destroy a Soviet-era Cosmos 1408 satellite in November 2021. This caused thousands of space debris that forced astronauts and astronauts aboard the International Space Station to seek shelter, nearly colliding with China’s Tsinghua scientific satellite about two months later. . , gizmodo report. NASA has called Russia’s ASAT missile test “reckless and dangerous”. NASA said the ISS conducted at least 29 debris avoidance maneuvers between her 1999 and early 2021 before a Russian missile test prompted another debris avoidance maneuver.
And when all else fails, satellite operators will have to come up with better ways to protect their satellites and their more valuable space cargo. It is one of the space bureaucracies spurring the development of a better and more powerful space shield for the sake of According to NASA, the debris shield around the US module on the International Space Station “can effectively withstand the impact of particles smaller than half an inch.”
How do you clean up space junk?
Most satellite operators, when they have to take out space junk, “dispose of it through ‘uncontrolled atmospheric re-entry,’ i.e. burning it in the sky as it falls to Earth,” Condon said. It is written as ZDNetThis is not ideal, as large pieces may not completely burn out before hitting the Earth, and the combustion process releases harmful chemicals into the atmosphere anyway. The U.S. government has worked to find plausible ways to recycle debris.
The White House announced its Space Assembly and Manufacturing (ISAM) strategy in April. His ISAM capabilities, such as repairing broken satellites, manufacturing new replacement parts, and refueling spacecraft, are not entirely new, but neither are they widely used or commercially viable. The United States wants to help make on-orbit maintenance and recycling the exception rather than the rule.
As an idea of what it could look like, space infrastructure startup ThinkOrbital wants it to be built automatically in space and used as a platform for things like satellite and spacecraft maintenance, manufacturing, and debris removal. We designed an envisioned spherical orbital satellite. client request.
“We are working on a hub-and-spoke concept where smaller satellites can collect debris, bring it back to a central location, process it, and turn it into fuel or deorbit it,” said Lee Rosen. said. President of ThinkOrbital and former Vice President of SpaceX. “For example, that hub could process debris and turn the aluminum into aluminum powder that can be used as spacecraft fuel.”
“All of space may be infinite, but where we put satellites is a very specific area,” and “they are getting more and more crowded,” Moriba Jah said. ZDNet“This is a true global commons,” adds Mark Dickinson, deputy CTO of satellite service provider Inmarsat. “Space is out there and nobody owns it.” If we don’t do anything, low Earth orbit will be too crowded to use the technology that powers our world. .
