When astronauts run to take refuge in their ships within a few months, rocket fragments fall into populated areas and multiple flights are diverted, it is that The problem of space garbage It is getting worse. The European Space Agency wants more strict rules and greater international cooperation, and will impose them even if no one follows. The goal: avoid the dreaded Kessler syndrome.
From bad to worse. In 2024, the amount of space waste increased considerably after several incidents. In May, a Russian satellite that had been inactive for three years disintegrated in the low orbitforcing astronauts of the International Space Station to take refuge in their ships.
In August, A CZ-6A Chinese rocket exploded After deploying 18 satellites in low orbit, generating a cloud of more than 300 fragments. In October, the IS-33E communications satellite Manufactured by Boeing, but he did it in the geostationary orbit. Up there, the 700 documented pieces will last thousands of years.
Official data. According to a Recent ESA Reportapproximately 54,000 objects of more than 10 centimeters are known orbiting the earth, including active satellites. However, there are at least 1.2 million objects between 1 and 10 centimeters that could also put manned missions at risk and satellites due to its great kinetic energy.
ESA warns in its report that the current trend increases the real risk of Kessler syndrome, a cascade of collisions in the low terrestrial orbit that could use this region for future generations. This scenario would not only put the new satellite constellations, such as those of Starlink, Kuiper or Oneweb, but seriously affect the safety of astronauts.
It is not strange that China has dedicated much of 2024 To fortify its Tiangong Space Station to protect it from spatial garbage fragments and small meteoroids. But the implications of space waste are not limited only to space, they also have tangible impacts on the mainland.
Not only does it affect space. As the cadence of launches increases, so do the uncontrolled falls of satellites and rockets. They almost always disintegrate in the atmosphere, but some elements, such as carbon fiber tanks, can resist the heat of the reentry even traveling 27,000 kilometers per hour.
Spacex could be touching the limits of its launching capacity after suffering several incidents. The closest to a misfortune has occurred this year in the airspace of Poland, where a second stage of Falcon 9 was disintegrated. Several large fragments managed to survive the heat of the reentry and They fell near the city of Poznanincluding a subway and a half deposit on the grounds of an industrial plant.
The frequent tests of new rockets are also a reason for concern. The Spacex starship has exploded twice on the Atlantic Ocean this year, causing two debris rainfall and Several deviations on commercial flights of the Caribbean or Florida. Bluen’s New Glenn rocket propeller fell out of control in the Atlantic during its debut flight, but did so at dawn, without great consequences.
New ESA rules. Although there were already rules such as 25 years (which establishes that obsolete satellites must get out of orbit within a maximum period of 25 years after their useful life), the level of compliance varies according to the type and size of the object. It is only 52% for large satellites.
Therefore, ESA has introduced a more strict five -year limit in its missions, seeking to set an example to establish more rigorous standards globally. All this is part of A “Zero Debris” commitment which seeks to reach an orbital environment without waste by 2030.
The frame includes technical measures to avoid space garbage, actively eliminate waste through advanced technologies and foster a spatial circular economy based on the beginning of the four R: “Remove, reuse, refurbish, recycle”, eliminate, reuse, restore and recycle.
In search of an international framework. It is not clear that ESA will lead the world by imposing stricter norms, because it could affect the development of new commercial constellations, but the problem of space garbage is becoming a real priority in the international legal field.
There is a legal framework: the 1972 Responsibility Convention. It was applied, for example, in the case of the Kosmos 954 Soviet satellite, which spread radioactive remains over northern Canada in 1978, or when part of a Spacex Crew Dragon ship of Spacex fell on a Saskatchewan farm In 2024.
In most cases, however, it is difficult to purify responsibilities, he points out A report from the University of New York. According to the report, more robust and binding international agreements are urgently needed.
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