Space junk, a problem concentrated in the lowest Earth orbits

The number of satellites launched in 2023 exceeded that of any previous year and with it the increase in the space junk. A problem that is concentrated in the lower orbits, where the satellites assets must perform more and more maneuvers to avoid other vehicles and abandoned debris.

The European Space Agency (ESA) has published this analysis in its annual Space Environment Report, which it released today, warning that as the number of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) increases exponentially, so does the amount of debris, with potentially catastrophic consequences.

The amount of space debris in orbit continues to increase rapidly, with space surveillance networks currently tracking around 35,000 objects. Of these, around 9,100 are active payloads and the other 26,000 are debris fragments larger than 10 centimetres in size.

A piece of debris larger than one centimetre can cause catastrophic damage and the actual number of space objects of that size exceeds one million, ESA said in a statement.

Satellites that remain in operational orbit at the end of their mission run the risk of fragmenting into clouds of debris that persist for years, forcing those still active to perform ever more maneuvers to avoid collisions and dodge other satellites and pieces of space junk.

Although the adoption of measures to reduce space debris “is slowly improving”, It is still not enough to stop the increase in the number and quantity of space debris.

For this reason, the ESA indicated that “Without further changes, the collective behaviour of entities operating in space (private companies and national agencies) is unsustainable in the long term.”

The most populated place for satellites and debris is low Earth orbit (LEO), where two-thirds of all active satellites are located, specifically, more than 6,000 are currently located between altitudes of 500 and 600 kilometers.

A trend that will continue, as most of the new satellites launched in 2023 were headed to these orbits to form part of large commercial communications constellations.

Any collision or explosion that generates a large number of debris fragments “It would be catastrophic for all satellites sharing a congested orbit, as well as for all spacecraft that have to pass through those orbits.s,” said an ESA statement.

In low Earth orbits, the number of incidents triggering collision avoidance procedures is increasing, partly due to increasing traffic congestion and partly due to the ever-increasing amount of debris.

Although mitigation efforts are increasing, not enough satellites are leaving these highly congested orbits at the end of their useful lives.

ESA noted that space aspirations are now focused on the Moon, plans that require keeping low Earth orbits safe for astronauts to travel through, as well as keeping cislunar space (the region between Earth and the Moon) clean, which is becoming an area of ​​increasing importance.

The European Space Agency indicates that there is a consensus “growing awareness of the need to implement stricter space debris mitigation practices worldwide if space activities are to remain viable.”

In addition, the ESA has set itself the goal of limiting “significantly” the production of waste in Earth and lunar orbits from all future missions, programs and activities by 2030 through its Zero Waste Approach.

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