Space Debris: A Rising Danger in Earth’s Orbit

Every year, we leave 2.12 billion tons of waste, or garbage, on the planet. Let me give you a striking example. To visualize this figure, imagine all these wastes loaded onto trucks lined up one after another. These trucks would be long enough to circumnavigate the world 24 times! What about space junk?

This time, our topic is not on earth. It’s about the garbage we create in the sky. We cannot see this with the naked eye. Moreover, it is not a fixed but a mobile garbage dump that is pregnant with different dangers every day…

NASA estimates that there are about 27,000 man-made objects larger than 10 centimeters classified as space junk. This garbage continues to orbit the earth. They are of no use to humanity either now or in the future. Because these are old satellites, rocket and spacecraft parts. More precisely, the remains…

There is now more useless space junk in orbit than active satellites. Yes, space is a big place. But the amount of fast-moving garbage built into orbit has grown steadily over the past six decades. Space agencies, military and private operators have launched thousands of satellites for espionage and navigation, scientific missions, communications and more. Earth’s orbit has now become an alarmingly crowded place.

We left our mark with garbage not only on the Earth’s orbit, but also on the Moon’s surface. As of today, there are 190,000 kg of waste on the lunar surface. Among them are 3 space cars and dozens of equipment.

_{^{The danger of space junk!}}

Space debris in motion in orbit is estimated to weigh more than 8,000 tons. These run the risk of hitting other objects and indeed active satellites as well. And of course, left as such they have the potential to stay aloft for hundreds and thousands of years.

So what does this mean? Let’s take a look at some examples from the past…

In February 2009, an operational Iridium communications satellite crashed into a now obsolete Russian military satellite at 42,000 km/h. This event occurred just 770 km above Siberia. It created thousands of pieces of space debris that still threaten active satellites today.

In 2007, China destroyed an old weather satellite with a missile. This action increased the amount of space debris in low Earth orbit by 30%. The US and India followed the same path in 2008 and 2019 respectively, further complicating the trajectory. Russia blew up an old satellite with a missile last year, creating more than 1,500 pieces of waste that will surround the planet for years.

The problem is that collisions between these high-speed garbage create even more garbage. The worst-case scenario is Kessler Syndrome, an unstoppable string of domino-effect collisions in Earth orbit. According to this scenario, there will be no active satellites in orbit due to successive collisions. The world will become blind and deaf for all basic activities carried out through satellites today.

_{^{Satellites and Sustainable Development Goals}}

The function of satellites is critical for the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The study by Will Marshall, CEO of Planet Lab, and his team provides detailed data on this subject. Accordingly, it is thought that 12 out of 17 of the Sustainable Development Goals can be reached through these satellites.

Let’s take a look at this with very basic examples. With the help of satellite imagery, we identify the steps we have taken in areas such as agricultural productivity. We have also taken steps in wide and effective monitoring of reservoir water levels, deforestation, and pollution levels of waters. Satellite imagery helps us monitor the status of ice floes and desertification globally. We have even established early warning systems to prevent these events.

In addition to good health and well-being, communication satellites also have benefits for quality education. Currently, only half of the world’s population has access to the Internet. Thanks to a global communication satellite network, the Internet can reach regions with no infrastructure and less development. This means increased knowledge sharing in fields such as medicine and education.

These examples demonstrate that satellites and space technology are crucial. They play an essential role in ensuring a sustainable healthy future.

Therefore, countries and international organizations related to space garbage, which is dangerous at many points, need to take precautions quickly.

In this regard, the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs has taken a step and published a directive. The directive aims to reduce space debris. It also outlines how nations and companies should behave in space. We will see together in the coming days whether it will have an effective benefit.

However, as private companies such as SpaceX plan to launch up to 100,000 new satellites within a decade, the measures and decisions on these issues become urgent. They are also increasingly critical.

Humanity has succeeded in turning the earth in which it lives into a garbage dump. It has also polluted space, despite its short historical past. Now, it is after so-called solutions to deal with the problems it has created. Just like a cat trying to catch its own tail.

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Sources:

The Guardian Weekly article by Ian Sample

https://www.theworldcounts.com/challenges/planet-earth/waste/global-waste-problem/story

https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/space-junk-what-is-being-done/

https://www.space.com/space-junk-growing-problem-complicated-solution

https://www.nhm.ac.uk/discover/what-is-space-junk-and-why-is-it-a-problem.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/05/29/can-new-technology-solve-a-trillion-pound-garbage-problem.html#:~:text=Humans%20generate%20a%20remarkable%20amount,3.4%20billion%20tonnes%20by%202050.

https://iscep.medium.com/daha-i̇yi-bir-uzay-teknolojisi-daha-i̇yi-bir-dünya-demek-fe98417c3874

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/space-trash-kill-satellites-space-station-astronauts