Space debris could destroy satellites
Print Edition
THE growing amount of fast-moving space debris orbiting the Earth could lead to catastrophic collisions with satellites, hurting economies, researchers warned yesterday ahead of a summit to coordinate efforts to remove the junk.
There are an estimated 170 million pieces of so-called “space junk” — left behind after missions that can be as big as spent rocket stages or as small as paint flakes — in orbit alongside some US$700 billion of space infrastructure.
But only 22,000 are tracked, and with the fragments able to travel at speeds above 27,000 kilometers per hour, even tiny pieces could seriously damage or destroy satellites.
“The space junk problem has been getting worse every year,” Ben Greene, head of Australia’s Space Environment Research Centre which is hosting the two-day conference of international space environment scientists in Canberra, said.
“We’re losing three or four satellites a year now to space debris collision. We’re very close, NASA estimates, of within five to 10 years of losing everything.”
Greene added in a statement that “a catastrophic avalanche of collisions which could quickly destroy all orbiting satellites is now possible,” noting that more collisions were creating extra debris.
With society heavily dependent on satellites for communication and navigation, and powering key industries such as transport, finance and energy, the growing cosmic junk yard could threaten economies.
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