The problem of space junk It’s getting more and more serious. Fragments of parts used in space missions are left wandering around the Earth until, at best, they deorbit and they return to our planet, burning as they cross the atmosphere and reducing to ashes. But other problems can also occur. For example, in the time they remain floating in space they can collide with each other producing a domino effect or, directly, collide with a satellite or even with a ship or space station. Furthermore, upon returning to Earth they may not burn sufficiently and escape the control of scientists on Earth, falling in unexpected places and causing accidents. For all this, the European Space Agency (ESA) has launched a plan aimed at finding a way to reduce trash in space to zero.
It won’t be easy. In fact, some technologies are required that do not yet exist today. However, ESA has warned that this is not the biggest challenge of their plan. The most difficult thing will be to obtain the necessary collaboration of other space agenciesboth public and private.
Everyone must agree to put measures in place to end space debris and they must do it together, informing the rest of the companies of each step. That will be the most difficult, because even though today we no longer talk about a competition as marked as when the United States faced the Soviet Union, all agencies want to be first and, to do so, sometimes they forget about the common good. That is the first thing we will have to work with and, without a doubt, it will be even more difficult than creating cutting-edge technologies capable of eliminating space debris.
Why is the problem of space debris so serious?
As explained in Universe Todaythere are billions of pieces of space junk orbiting Earth, and more than 25,000 of those pieces they are bigger than 10cm. It may seem that 10 centimeters is not enough, but that is enough to produce a dangerous crash. The space is immense, but the area occupied by all those pieces is not that large. They are all in orbit around the Earth. For this reason, it would not be difficult for them to collide with each other or with some object of human construction that is still in operation.
These pieces can have many origins. Some are remnants of explosions during missions gone wrong. Others are objects that had a long useful life; but, once their mission was accomplished, they went out and were left to wander around the Earth. There are also remains of rockets that, once the ship they propelled was released from the Earth, were stranded in space if they did not manage to fall into the Earth. There are even smaller fragments from the ship propulsion launched from our planet or from the breakage of other larger pieces due to collision with space objects or exposure to the space environment. There is everything. Some of those objects pose a risk in space, but others pose a risk here on Earth.
According to a study published in 2022there is a 10% risk of a piece of space debris falling on a human being in the next decade. This would happen if, as we saw before, deorbits uncontrollably. At the moment it has not happened, but there have been cases of fragments of space debris that have fallen near human constructions. Or even inside. When this happens, space agencies try to wash their hands as much as possible. For this reason, at ESA they consider that international cooperation, although essential, would be very complicated.
What is the ESA plan?
The ESA plan consists of two parts. The first is based on prevent the release of new space junk and the second in the elimination of what is already in space.
For the first, they point out a first measure that consists of using special coatings in all pieces that are launched into space. These would be responsible for preventing these pieces from being damaged by the passage of time in the inhospitable space conditions. They would also protect them from possible crashes. Thus, the release of small fragments by degradation.
The second proposal to avoid releasing new space debris consists of using new forms of propulsion. Many of those currently used release small fragments in the process that later become space debris. For example, options could be tested based on the electromagnetism. A lot of research would be needed, but ESA considers it viable.
Of course, they also propose better surveillance of everything that is released into space. There must be constant monitoring systems. It is not valid to leave free pieces to their fate without any type of control.
As for the removal of space debris that is already accumulating, the measures would be even more complicated, but not impossible. New technologies would be needed capable of deorbiting in a controlled manner those fragments that, in monitoring, prove to be dangerous. There are already some inventions along these lines and, although they are not widely used, the first prototypes have been very promising.
Collaboration is essential to eliminate space debris
There are already companies, public and private, that have their own mechanisms to release less space debris. However, the majority are still a kind of spacewashingwhere they wash their faces with small measures that do not even equal the damage they do on the other hand.
This is, for example, the case of SpaceX. Elon Musk’s company has been researching the use of reusable rockets. This is very useful to prevent the accumulation of space debris. However, it continues to launch thousands and thousands of satellites into space that could become space debris and, furthermore, it does not stop carrying out test flights of its ships, knowing that many of them will go wrong and release garbage into space. A good example of this is the last starship explosionwhose debris endangered several passenger flights. Musk has acknowledged that he wants to do 25 test flights this year, so the amount of debris like that could be enormous. They fell into the ocean, it is true that they did not stay in space, but they still posed a risk.
It is necessary for different companies to stop taking individual measures and share everything they do with others. Also that they communicate the status of their lost ships, satellites or probes. If there is no collaboration, space debris will become an even bigger problem than we already have. Little by little we are destroying the Earth. Let’s not also do the same with the space that surrounds it.