The Exponential Crisis of Space Debris

ABHINAV YARLAGADDA

Space is a symbol of freedom, a frontier ripe for exploration and discovery. Despite all of what outer space stands for, it is closer to becoming more inaccessible than ever before.  Ingenuity isn’t the issue. Rather, it’s the unintended ramifications of our actions, many of which are detrimental and hazardous to our own goals. In the case of outer space, prospective issues are even more disastrous since outer space is crucial for the daily activities of human society, from Global Positioning System (GPS) technology to communications services. 

While the idea of outer space tends to be disconnected and intangible for many people, it serves as the primary lifeline of the global economy. Satellites orbiting around the globe are so deeply embedded into society that the economy may end up collapsing entirely if critical satellite infrastructure suddenly fails. Just imagine a world without GPS, which practically everyone uses for transportation. GPS is so pervasive that precise operations like moving cargo with a crane or even zoning operations in the fishing industry depend heavily on it. Losing access to such a vital service for just 5 days could cost the United Kingdom alone upwards of $6 billion according to an analysis done by the London School of Economics. Yet, losing GPS isn’t the only problem the world would face if all the satellites went down. Instantaneous calls across the world would no longer be available, time would be unreliable, and weather data would become more inaccurate than before. Even climate data and research would be impeded, adversely affecting climate change policy in the long term. With the potential of drawing the world to a standstill, preserving outer space is essential to defend vulnerable satellite infrastructure.

When people refer to sustainability, most associate it with saving the Earth, but the environment in outer space is a significant concern as well. Although outer space seems infinite, there are only a limited amount of orbits available, causing extra capacity for satellites and spacecraft to be very scarce. Currently, more than 5,000 satellites exist in space, each divided into three main orbital zones. The closest orbital zone to the Earth is the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which hosts the most satellites out of the three zones along with the International Space Station. Right after the LEO comes the Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) zone and then the Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), which encompasses communications relay satellites. Due to the extremely high concentration of satellites in the LEO zone, the congestion poses a serious threat through collisions with space debris.

Outer space is characterized as pristine and empty, but in reality, millions of objects are moving at astronomical speeds around the globe. The space in the orbital zones around Earth are littered with space debris, which are composed of any residue or parts left by human space missions. Anything from inactive satellites to microscopic paint flecks is categorized under space debris, demonstrating how prevalent space debris really are as a single space mission can generate thousands of space debris. The danger of space debris is rooted in the lack of friction to slow down moving objects in space, which enables space debris to travel around 17,000 miles per hour. These breakneck speeds can lead to catastrophic collisions if it comes into contact with any other objects. The sheer impact would shatter the objects into thousands of separate pieces, each moving at extremely high velocities too. Uncontrolled space debris constitute a ticking time bomb, where disaster seems inevitable. 

In fact, there already was an infamous collision in 2009, where Iridium 33, a communications satellite, and a decommissioned Kosmos satellite crashed into each other. The single collision nearly doubled all the space debris in orbit with all the splintered satellite parts, immensely increasing the chances of future collisions. At the time, no detection or prior warning systems were in place and the regulations surrounding space collision were vague and outdated. In the aftermath of the collision, various programs and systems emerged to deal with all the extensive damage caused and provide insight towards setting uniform safety standards. Detection systems now scan for objects larger than 10 centimeters and satellites are insulated for protection against objects less than 1 centimeter in size. However, objects between 1 centimeter and 10 centimeters are still unnoticeable, making them extremely vicious. From a regulatory perspective, the Space Safety Coalition recommends all satellites come equipped with propulsion systems to maneuver away from potential collisions. In addition, the Space Situational Awareness Sharing program was created by the US government to track satellite orbital paths and prevent future collisions. Even though these programs entail a major step in the right direction, the problem of space debris is exceedingly growing more precarious by the day.

The urgency for removing space debris originates from a concept known as the Kessler Syndrome, which is based on chain reaction of collisions. As space debris accumulates over time and reaches a critical mass, a collision cascade will occur, where the debris from one collision causes the next, continuing on and on until the entire orbital zone is filled with an impenetrable cloud of space debris. This domino effect would grow exponentially, destroying all satellites in the range of orbit and preventing any spacecraft from entering or leaving Earth. The Kessler Syndrome is becoming more relevant now due to private companies wanting to build satellite constellations like SpaceX’s ambitious Starlink project, which seeks to add 40,000 more satellites, 8 times the current amount. Coupled with there being more than 1 million pieces of space debris that range in sizes from 1 centimeter to 10 centimeters, the crisis of space debris is an immediate issue that must be addressed to secure global prosperity.

Innovative techniques and technological advances have propelled space debris recovery goals forward as agencies across the world are aiming to mitigate the risks produced by space debris. Some of these technologies include using nets and harpoons to capture floating space debris and bring it back to Earth. Other ideas include utilizing lasers and electromagnets to slow down the space debris, forcing the debris to burn up in the atmosphere as they fall back to Earth. Other methods to solve the accelerating threat of space debris are by developing more detailed and updated legal remedies to collisions and space debris removal. By implementing uniform standards and working together, nations and companies will be able to collectively participate in bolstering sustainability in outer space.