In 2024, the problem of human-made space debris has become significantly more acute. Old satellites or rocket bodies now re-enter the Earthʼs atmosphere on average more than three times a day.
This is reported by the European Space Agency.
Of particular concern was the launch of the Chinese Long March 6A rocket in August last year, which exploded after reaching orbit, creating one of the largest debris clouds in the last decade.
Space debris is the debris from old rockets, satellites, and other devices that can interfere with the operation of new satellites. This is a problem for companies like SpaceX (Starlink) and OneWeb, which broadcast internet communications from space.
The number of tracked objects in orbit has increased by 8% over the past year and now stands at around 40 000. But there could be even more, as many pieces of debris are too small to be detected. Although they still pose a risk to satellites.
"If current trends continue, the number of catastrophic collisions could increase exponentially," the European Space Agency warns.
Space debris is increasing, and while companies are starting to follow the rules more, itʼs not enough. Even if people stopped launching rockets tomorrow, there would still be more debris in space. Old satellites and other objects are constantly colliding, breaking into small pieces, and those pieces are flying around, creating even more chaos. They appear faster than they can burn up in the atmosphere.
If nothing is done, this could turn into a real chain reaction, with debris destroying everything in its path, and some orbits becoming simply unusable. To avoid this, itʼs not enough to simply "not litter" — you also need to clean up what has already accumulated.
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