• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
    • Meet the Team
  • Contact us
TLE ONLINE SHOP!
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Opinion
  • Elevenses
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Lifestyle
      • Horoscopes
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
  • Food
    • All Food
    • Recipes
  • Property
  • Travel
  • Tech/Auto
  • JOBS
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home News

‘Already like a disaster waiting to happen’ as Orbiting space debris ‘the new drifting island of plastic’

“So, today, if we do not react in a safe and timely way… the consequences will be detrimental.”

Joe Mellor by Joe Mellor
2021-01-12 15:38
in News, Science
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

Unwanted debris left by humans in low-Earth orbit have become the equivalent of a “new drifting island of plastic” in outer space, an expert has said.

Ekaterini Kavvada, who is the directorate general of Defence Industry and Space at the European Commission, described space junk as “not a theoretical threat but a reality” which risks causing damage to active European and other satellites.

Speaking at the 13th European Space Conference, Ms Kavvada said: “Orbiting space debris has become the new drifting island of plastic – if I had to make the comparison – that poses a looming threat for the safety and the security of all the traffic and space sustainability.”

Scientific models estimate there are more than 128 million pieces of space debris that are larger than 1mm, and 34,000 pieces larger than 10cm.

DG DEFIS Director for Development and Innovation, C. Kavvada, at #BBESpaceConf

"Mitigation of space debris is not sufficient. We need to limit the production of space junk & develop instruments to remove debris#SSA will be a fully-fledged component of the #EUSpace Programme" pic.twitter.com/J3emgHYZ0j

— 🇪🇺 DG DEFIS #StrongerTogether (@defis_eu) January 12, 2021

Fragments as small as 1cm have the potential to completely destroy satellites because of the speed at which they are travelling.

Artificial satellites are used in communications, such as satellite television and phone calls, and navigation, which includes the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Spacecraft

These types of spacecraft also play a role in weather forecasting, tracking storms and pollution and astronomy.

RelatedPosts

Watch: ‘You’re quoting the Fonz’ – PM mocked over Brexit comment

PM still committed to levelling-up but report suggests investment needed ‘far beyond anything being contemplated’ by Govt

Jeremy Corbyn set to give evidence at High Court trial after libel claim

Watch: Secret Barrister owns Attorney General over voting and Raab over barrister strike

Ms Kavvada said that since January 2019, there have been more than 5,000 satellites in space, with nearly 2,000 still active.

She said: “Hopefully – and this is why we cross our fingers every day – those satellites may be able to deorbit and mostly burn up in the atmosphere, when their useful life is finished.”

However, Ms Kavvada warned that there are still nearly 3,000 inactive satellites drifting in space, with recent data suggesting there have been more than 500 break-ups or explosions of these space objects, resulting in fragmentation.

She said that adding webs of networked satellites, known as mega constellations, to space would result in the likelihood of a Kessler syndrome – a chain reaction where more and more objects collide to create new space junk to the point where Earth’s orbit became unusable.

Ms Kavvada said: “This sounds already like a disaster waiting to happen.”

Rolf Densing, director of operations at the European Space Agency, who was also speaking at the space conference, said: “We are living in a time the mega constellations are being built up, and the population of objects in orbit around us is growing by the thousands per year.

“So by now, we have about 1,000 starlink satellites in orbit.

“By the end of the decade, we will be talking about tens of thousands of satellites that are in the orbit around us.”

Mr Densing said the ESA’s European Space Operations Centre (ESOC) is getting “hundreds of collision earnings” on a fleet of about 20 satellites the agency operates.

Collision avoidance

He said: “About every two weeks, on average, we will have to fly the collision avoidance manoeuvre.”

Ms Kavvada said that limiting the production of space junk, avoiding the generation of new debris, and developing instruments to remove current space debris are needed to “ensure long-term sustainable use of space”.

She said: “Even in a theoretical scenario in which no further objects are added to the space environment, the results of simulations stemming from the ESA and Nasa show that the critical density reached in LEO (low-Earth orbit) is such that mitigation alone is not any more sufficient.”

Ms Kavvada added: “So, today, if we do not react in a safe and timely way… the consequences will be detrimental.”

Last year, the UK Government awarded seven private companies £1 million to help track space junk as part of its space surveillance and tracking (SST) programme.

The UK will also play a critical role in building The Claw, which will be the first ever satellite to remove space junk.

A part of the ESA’s Clearspace-1 mission scheduled for 2025, The Claw will use a pincer motion to collect debris, before giving it a controlled re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere, allowing it to decompose safely and away from life.

Related: Tourist beach littered with face masks as pandemic pollution is ‘out of control’

Since you are here

Since you are here, we wanted to ask for your help.

Journalism in Britain is under threat. The government is becoming increasingly authoritarian and our media is run by a handful of billionaires, most of whom reside overseas and all of them have strong political allegiances and financial motivations.

Our mission is to hold the powerful to account. It is vital that free media is allowed to exist to expose hypocrisy, corruption, wrongdoing and abuse of power. But we can't do it without you.

If you can afford to contribute a small donation to the site it will help us to continue our work in the best interests of the public. We only ask you to donate what you can afford, with an option to cancel your subscription at any point.

To donate or subscribe to The London Economic, click here.

The TLE shop is also now open, with all profits going to supporting our work.

The shop can be found here.

You can also SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER .

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

Trending on TLE

  • All
  • trending
Abdollah

‘Rescue us’: Afghan teacher begs UK to help him escape Taliban

CHOMSKY: “If Corbyn had been elected, Britain would be pursuing a much more sane course”

What If We Got Rid Of Prisons?

More from TLE

Teenage brothers seeking asylum in Scotland ‘could become the country’s first astronauts’

Artesian Bar to host female takeover next month

Workers name the top 50 things they miss about the past

5 Must-Do Warm-Up Exercises For Runners (and Non-Runners)

British caterpillars are being infected with a ‘zombie virus’ which causes them to march towards the sun…before EXPLODING 

UK suffering political nervous breakdown, warns former spymaster

Forgotten Film Friday: Belle de Jour

Wayne Couzens pleads guilty to rape and kidnap of Sarah Everard

Labour prepared to back second Brexit referendum

Last-ditch bid to block Rwanda deportation flight REJECTED by Court of Appeal

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Meet the Team
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.