FUTURE space launches could be jeopardised if “stupid” regimes like Russia don’t stop blasting the skies creating debris, experts have warned.
Low Earth orbit is filling up with so-called “space junk” which could cause devastation for satellites, as well as astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
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More than 30,000 bits are currently being tracked – though there are millions of tiny pieces smaller than 1cm floating around as well.
With billionaires such as Elon Musk launching loads of satellites into space, experts fear that the skies could become overcrowded, increasing the risk of collisions.
While the threat is unlikely to cause a fatal crash on Earth, it could knock out communications and internet access.
Professor Lord Rees, who hold’s the prestigious Astronomer Royal title to advise the Queen on astronomical matters, told The Sun if it gets worse it could make low Earth orbit “unusable”.
“The thing people worry about most is the very large number of small fragments which are pretty much impossible to clear up but could damage a satellite,” he warned.
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“This is a serious concern in low Earth orbit, especially if SpaceX puts up these 40,000 Starlink spacecraft.
“Supposing that two spacecraft collide, that produces lots of debris, and then that makes it more likely that another satellite would be hit by debris and will break up.
“There’s a serious worry that low Earth orbit could eventually become unusable because the risk of a satellite being hit by something is unduly large.”
Professor Martin Barstow, from the University of Leicester told The Sun that the risks at the moment are low but we need to act now.
The astrophysics expert called out Russia’s “stupid” decision to deliberately explode one of its satellites in space, dangerously blasting thousands of pieces of junk.
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“They could grow potentially to very large risks if the problem gets out of hand,” he said.
“A couple of events that cause a lot of debris could start to accelerate the process.
“It’s not a complete mess, it can be fixed – equally if people are stupid or some regimes are stupid – I think I’ll be quite happy to call the Russians stupid for blowing up that satellite.
“I don’t see why I should pull any punches on that because people testing anti-satellite weapons are actually creating debris and that’s causing problems.”
Some satellites, like those used for satnavs, are higher up so wouldn’t be affected in the same way.
But if low orbit becomes a mess, it would prevent us from getting clear access.
“Of course you’ve got to actually pass through the zone where the debris is and that might actually make it much more difficult to get the satellites out to the sort of deeper orbits,” Professor Barstow warned.
“We’re not at the stage where the worst case situation is likely or predicted to happen.
“It’s a little bit like environmental issues here, you’ve got to start working on it now and worry about the longer term future.
“If you leave it, it will be too late if we don’t do something about it now.”
As for the risk to people down on Earth, for now it is safe.
Small fragments would burn up in the atmosphere.
Professor Lord Rees, who releases a book called The End of Astronauts: Why Robots Are the Future of Exploration, later this year, said bigger spacecraft would pose a real danger to us on Earth, but thankfully the likelihood at the moment is minimal.
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In other news, a new space station for Tom Cruise to shoot movies on has caused jaws to drop for all the wrong reasons.
Scientists have pinpointed when they believe the Sun will explode and wipe out everything on Earth in the process.
And Apple is working on a fix for a recently discovered bug that is capable of exposing the personal data of iPhone users.
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This post first appeared on Thesun.co.uk
