Space pollution management is challenging

Space pollution management is challenging

A study by the European Space Agency has warned of a sharp rise in the number of satellites launched into space, which could cause significant damage if they collide with each other.

Dr Hugh Lewis, who led the study, said the cost of building satellites was so low that a "huge constellation" of satellites could form in space from next year.

According to experts, space is becoming increasingly crowded.

He stressed on the need to reduce the size of satellites and deploy missions to remove useless satellites.

An American space surveillance network estimates that there are about 23,000 fragments floating in space.

Danger

But most of these objects are less than four inches in diameter and cannot be monitored.

However, it is said that the danger posed by them being small is not small.

Scientists have warned that a clip-shaped piece used to hold documents could cause serious damage.

Brian Weiden of the Secure World Foundation, an organization dedicated to the sustainable use of space, said: "Right now we don't even monitor very small objects. Such objects can cause problems when they hit a satellite."

The chances of a collision in space are slim, but the chances of a collision now seem to be the result of debris from two previous events.

In 2007, China destroyed one of its satellites using ballistic missiles.

In 2009, a commercial communications satellite of the United States collided with a damaged Russian weather satellite.

In 2017, a team from the International Space Station had to rescue a rocket named Soyuz due to the garbage created by the satellites.

At that time, even if no one was harmed, it would take at least hundreds, if not thousands, of years to remove such debris from the earth's orbit.

How to clean

Scientists are experimenting with how to clean space.

No such device has yet been built, and scientists say there is a risk that such waste will break down in a more subtle way and be harder to identify.

So far, about 7,000 satellites have been sent into space, of which only 1,500 are in operation.

In the next decade, satellites are likely to take on the shape of giant constellations, as the number could increase to 18,000.

Large satellites are being prepared to expand the quality and accessibility of the Internet worldwide.

Scientists such as Widen of the Secure World Foundation believe that the launch of more satellites would increase the challenges.

Almost everything in space has the same speed relative to its height.

Weiden says that if everything is moving in the same direction, it will not have much effect.

Laurie Newman, a member of NASA's traffic watchdog, says strengthening the exterior could protect satellites from objects smaller than a centimeter.

But according to him, other objects ranging from one to 10 centimeters that cannot be detected could cause damage to such satellites.

Whose responsibility?

Satellite technology is linked to the basic necessities of modern human life, from communication to the use of GPS and downloading of favorite movies.

It became even more important for national security.

No country or body is solely responsible for the security of space.

The United Nations formed the Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS) in 1959.

It now has 85 countries, from space powers such as the United States, Russia and China to Costa Rica that have not been able to send a single satellite but are using satellite technology.

Reducing space pollution by convincing all these countries is considered to be very challenging.

As more countries and businesses expand their activities in Earth orbit, the issue of pollution needs to be addressed urgently.

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