Scientists are calling for a legally binding, or enforceable, international treaty to be put into effect to ensure that near-Earth space is not irretrievably threatened by a space junk boom stemming from future expansion of the global space industry.
Tens of thousands of pieces of space debris orbiting Earth are tracked by sensors in the US Department of Defense’s Global Space Surveillance Network (SSN). To this figure we must add that of the pieces that are too small to be constantly monitored, which is much higher than that of the monitored.
All these pieces travel at very high speeds, often around 28,000 kilometers per hour, much faster than a bullet and fast enough for a tiny piece to be capable of damaging a spacecraft if it collided with it.
The number of satellites in orbit is projected to increase from 9,000 today to more than 60,000 by 2030, and it is estimated that there are already more than 100 trillion (trillion) pieces of old untracked satellites circling the planet as orbital shrapnel.
Although many of the satellites launched into space are of great use while they are in operation, it is feared that the expected growth in the number of satellites in Earth orbits, especially those that are no longer in service, could make many of the orbits more common around the Earth become impossible to use, because they become areas similar to shooting ranges riddled with bullets.
Imogen Napper. (Foto: Eleanor Burfitt / University of Plymouth)
The international team of Imogen Napper, from the University of Plymouth in the United Kingdom, warns of the urgent need for a global consensus on the best way to manage the most demanding orbital space around the Earth.
The research team admits that there are already companies and nations that are beginning to develop strategies that guarantee the sustainability of orbital space, but considers it essential that ensuring sustainability is something that any nation that plans to use Earth orbit is required by law.
Any agreement, they add, should include measures to implement the responsibility of producers and users of satellites and their waste, from the moment they take off from Earth.
The experts signing the study also believe that, unless action is taken immediately, large parts of the orbital space closest to Earth are at risk of suffering the same fate that many maritime areas have already suffered, where the lack of a Responsible management has resulted in overfishing, habitat destruction, uncontrolled deep-sea mining exploration, and plastic pollution.
The study is titled “Protect Earth’s orbit: Avoid high seas mistakes”. And it has been published in the academic journal Science. (Fountain: NCYT de Amazings)