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World Live TV World / Climate Nearly 30,000 objects are hurtling through near-Earth orbit.1972's "Blue Marble" photo from Apollo 17 may have inspired Earth Day, but few considered the orbital garbage created to take it until 1979, when NASA scientist Donald Kessler published a paper titled "Collision Frequency of Artificial Satellites: The Creation of a Debris Belt." ????? An illustration showing the ERS-2 RELATED ARTICLE A 5,000-pound satellite is expected to fall to Earth this week Ever since, "Kessler Syndrome" -- depicted with appropriate suspense in the 2013 film "Gravity" -- has been shorthand for the industry's worry that too much space traffic will eventually create a vicious cycle of more debris leading to even more collisions until launches become impossible.NASA ODPO The study found that 10% of the particles in the upper atmosphere now contain bits of metal from rockets or satellites falling out of orbit and burning up. As humanity becomes increasingly dependent on information beamed down from above, the report predicts manmade debris will make up 50% of stratospheric aerosols in coming decades, matching the amount created naturally by the galaxy.While there is uncertainty over how this will affect the ozone layer -- and a complicated climate system already in crisis -- the commercial shift from solid rocket boosters on NASA's Space Shuttles to the kerosene that fuels SpaceX rockets has added tons of new fossil fuel emissions with every launch, while aging satellites create clouds of debris as they deorbit.That's not just a problem for space By Bill Weir, CNN Chief Climate Correspondent 5 minute read Updated 2:13 PM EST, Wed February 21, 2024 Space debris is becoming a major problem, with thousands of more satellites on track to launch through the end of this decade.The moment a NASA astronaut lost his spatula in space 03:05 - Source: CNN According to the tracking site Orbiting Now, there are more than 8,300 satellites currently overhead, and predictions of how many will soon join them vary wildly.And after NOAA used high-flying aircraft to take first-in-a-generation samples of the stratosphere, new science shows that the for-profit space race is changing the sky in measurable ways and with potentially harmful consequences for the ozone layer and Earth's climate.The US Government Accountability Office predicted 58,000 satellites will launch in the next six years.

World
Live TV
World / Climate
Nearly 30,000 objects are hurtling through near-Earth orbit. That’s not just a problem for space
By Bill Weir, CNN Chief Climate Correspondent
5 minute read
Updated 2:13 PM EST, Wed February 21, 2024
Space debris is becoming a major problem, with thousands of more satellites on track to launch through the end of this decade. Some companies and agencies are starting to test ways to clean it up.
Space debris is becoming a major problem, with thousands of more satellites on track to launch through the end of this decade. Some companies and agencies are starting to test ways to clean it up. CNN/Adobe Stock
CNN
—
Once upon a time, gazing at the night sky was an escape from manmade messiness on Earth.

Not anymore.

Nearly 70 years after the launch of Sputnik, there are so many machines flying through space, astronomers worry their light pollution will soon make it impossible to study other galaxies with terrestrial telescopes.

Then there is the space junk — nearly 30,000 objects bigger than a softball hurtling a few hundred miles above Earth, ten times faster than a bullet.

And after NOAA used high-flying aircraft to take first-in-a-generation samples of the stratosphere, new science shows that the for-profit space race is changing the sky in measurable ways and with potentially harmful consequences for the ozone layer and Earth’s climate.

“We can see the fingerprint of human space traffic on stratospheric aerosol,” said Troy Thornberry, a research physicist at NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory. “Adding a lot of material to the stratosphere that was never there before is something that we’re considering, as well as the sheer mass of material that we put into space.”

Every object in this animation is tracked by the US Combined Space Operation Center's Space Surveillance Network. The dot size does not represent the size of of the objects. "Although this image makes low Earth orbit look more congested than it is, the congestion worsens each year," NASA writes. NASA ODPO
The study found that 10% of the particles in the upper atmosphere now contain bits of metal from rockets or satellites falling out of orbit and burning up. As humanity becomes increasingly dependent on information beamed down from above, the report predicts manmade debris will make up 50% of stratospheric aerosols in coming decades, matching the amount created naturally by the galaxy.

While there is uncertainty over how this will affect the ozone layer — and a complicated climate system already in crisis — the commercial shift from solid rocket boosters on NASA’s Space Shuttles to the kerosene that fuels SpaceX rockets has added tons of new fossil fuel emissions with every launch, while aging satellites create clouds of debris as they deorbit.

“We’re talking about constellations of thousands of satellites that each weigh a ton or so, and when they come down they’re acting like meteoroids,” Thornberry told CNN.

The moment a NASA astronaut lost his spatula in space
03:05 - Source: CNN
According to the tracking site Orbiting Now, there are more than 8,300 satellites currently overhead, and predictions of how many will soon join them vary wildly.

More than 300 commercial and government entities have announced plans to launch a staggering 478,000 satellites by 2030, but that number is likely inflated by hype. The US Government Accountability Office predicted 58,000 satellites will launch in the next six years. Other analysts recently estimated the number likely to make it to orbit is closer to 20,000.

But even the lowest estimates would have been inconceivable in the giddy aftermath of Neil Armstrong’s one small step. 1972’s “Blue Marble” photo from Apollo 17 may have inspired Earth Day, but few considered the orbital garbage created to take it until 1979, when NASA scientist Donald Kessler published a paper titled “Collision Frequency of Artificial Satellites: The Creation of a Debris Belt.”

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An illustration showing the ERS-2
RELATED ARTICLE
A 5,000-pound satellite is expected to fall to Earth this week
Ever since, “Kessler Syndrome” — depicted with appropriate suspense in the 2013 film “Gravity” — has been shorthand for the industry’s worry that too much space traffic will eventually create a vicious cycle of more debris leading to even more collisions until launches become impossible.

In low-earth orbit, objects can collide at around 23,000 miles an hour, enough for even the tiniest debris to crack the windows on the International Space Station. All told, it is estimated that there are 100 million pieces of manmade debris the size of a pencil tip whizzing in orbit — a major risk of doing business in space.