On October 4, 1957, the Soviets became the first to explore space by launching the satellite Sputnik 1. And in doing so, less well known, it creates invisible pollution right above our heads…
In fact: Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite in orbit [une sphère de 58 centimètres de diamètre et de près de 84 kilos], was the first ever space waste! Its battery failed after about twenty days and it became inoperable before completely self-destructing upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere on January 4, 1958. For two and a half months, most of its existence, it was useless. The story of Sputnik 1 shows that the problem of space waste goes back to the early days of space exploration. Scientists expressed concern about this increasing pollution early on, but states did not consider the issue a priority. At the time, we were in the middle of the Cold War and the space competition was in full swing. A short-term vision dominated. The Soviet Union, for example, preferred to destroy its satellites – which creates a lot of debris – rather than watch them fall into enemy hands. Unfortunately, the situation hasn't changed much today. Space remains a place of rivalry between nations, where each demonstrates its strength. To demonstrate their power, countries like Russia, China and India destroy their defective satellites with missile attacks. The USA, on the other hand, announced that it would stop this practice in April 2022.
What do we call space debris?
These are artificial objects in space, but they are no longer functional and are largely no longer maneuverable. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), there are around 131 million of these wastes, but only a tiny fraction of them [environ 32 000] is regularly monitored and monitored. They can take different forms: a satellite that no longer obeys, a rocket stage [les fusées se dissocient au fur et à mesure qu’elles montent en altitude], a piece of solar panel, a tool, a glove lost by an astronaut, a screw, or even a simple chip of paint. One of the largest pieces of space junk currently is an eight-ton Earth observation satellite called Envisat, which was put into orbit by ESA in 2002. Ten years later, the agency cut off all contact with him overnight. We don't really know what happened. The most reliable hypothesis is that the satellite itself suffered a collision with space debris.
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Are there areas of the room that are particularly polluted by this waste?
Yes. Low Earth orbit, which is between 120 and 2,000 kilometers above sea level, is by far the most polluted : These are primarily meteorological satellites and earth observation satellites that complete a complete orbit around our planet about fourteen times a day. And this is where the risk of collision is greatest. Further afield, between 2,000 and 36,000 kilometers altitude, in average Earth orbit are navigation satellites such as the American GPS and Galileo, its European equivalent. Beyond 36,000 kilometers is the geostationary orbit, in which mainly telecommunications satellites are located. They follow the rotation of our planet and move at exactly the same speed as it, about 1,600 kilometers per hour. From Earth, a satellite moving in this region appears as a fixed point in the sky.
What dangers does the presence of this debris pose?
They can cause enormous damage. In space, their speed varies between seven and eight kilometers per second : in terms of kinetic energy [l’énergie que possède un corps du fait de son mouvement], a piece of debris with a radius of one millimeter is equivalent to a bowling ball thrown at 100 kilometers per hour; a piece of debris with a radius of one centimeter, which is equivalent to a large car traveling at 130 kilometers per hour. The main risk is therefore a collision between debris and an operational satellite that would not be able to maneuver sufficiently to avoid a collision. This has already happened. For example, in 2009, a Russian satellite in distress collided with and destroyed the American satellite Iridium 33, creating more than 2,000 additional fragments… The film Gravity by Alfonso Cuarón, which helped raise awareness of the problem of space waste After its release in 2013, the film opens with a much more serious incident: debris hitting a shuttle inhabited by astronauts. This is a completely believable scenario. As evidence: in November 2021, an anti-satellite missile launch carried out by Russia generated shrapnel that almost hit the International Space Station (ISS), and the seven astronauts had to take temporary refuge in the emergency modules… But space debris also sometimes has consequences for the Earth . In 2020, the remnants of a Chinese missile crashed into a village in Ivory Coast, causing no injuries. Fortunately, this is extremely rare. Most often, this waste, about 90 tons per year, ends up in the oceans, which cover 70% of our planet's surface. We are all the more protected because our atmosphere acts like a protective shield: any artificial object that enters it is exposed to a shock wave that partially or even completely destroys it through the action of intense heat. The problem is that this process releases the chemicals present in the destroyed device and these products contain metals and polymer composites that deplete ozone and therefore can have harmful consequences for the atmosphere. However, this is a relatively young research area and we do not yet know the exact effects of it.
The scenario in the film Gravity, in which rubble endangers an inhabited station, is entirely believable.
Because of waste, space exploration seems to have become increasingly dangerous. Are people making space inaccessible?
Yes. Furthermore, we know that even if we stopped sending satellites around the Earth now, the amount of debris would continue to increase. In fact, every collision creates new waste, which in turn meets other waste, triggering a chain reaction. This is Kessler syndrome, theorized in 1978 by American astrophysicist Donald J. Kessler. If nothing is done to address the problem of space waste, low-Earth orbit will simply become unusable, making space exploration and launching new satellites extremely complicated.
Are there solutions to “clean” the room?
Yes, cleanup missions are gradually being launched, which currently only deal with low-Earth orbit, since searching for satellites in geostationary orbit is too expensive. [la technique employée pour ceux-là est de les repousser afin qu’ils finissent leur vie plus loin, dans une “orbite cimetière”]. The methods available to us are similar to those of fishing. To collect debris, we use, for example, the net, the harpoon or the articulated arm, which is controlled from a satellite. Researchers are also working on a laser that can completely destroy this waste without creating new ones. Currently, one of the most ambitious cleanup missions is called ClearSpace-1.
It is led by the European Space Agency. The aim is to recover a piece of a Vega rocket that weighed around one hundred kilos and was launched in 2003 by grabbing it with pliers. This piece of debris, the size of a small satellite, was chosen because it is relatively easy to catch. But these missions are extremely expensive [une centaine de millions d’euros pour ClearSpace-1]. Additionally, you should know that each nation remains the owner of its debris. Imagine the diplomatic headache if five countries have to come to an agreement, especially in the current context marked by tensions between Europe and the United States on the one hand and Russia on the other. … Especially since there is currently no international regulation, she is obliged to cooperate.
So space remains a kind of Wild West where every country does what it wants?
The only contract is from 1967 and is out of date! We need an international law to finally regulate all this…
Yes, somehow. The United Nations does have an office for space affairs based in Vienna, Austria, but it has very little influence. The only reference text is the Outer Space Treaty, but it dates back to 1967! And don't mention space debris… National legislation is sometimes more precise on this issue, as in France, where the law on space operations of June 3, 2008 warns of “the risks associated with space debris.” Today, the Outer Space Treaty, which dates back to the time of the rush to the moon, is outdated. For example, Article II guarantees that “outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall not be the subject of national appropriation by declaration of sovereignty, by use or occupation, or by any other means.” “National ownership,” okay, but what about the private sector? The treaty says nothing about this, as space at that time was a matter between states. This loophole allowed Barack Obama to pass the Space Act in 2015, allowing American companies to use the moon and asteroids. When the treaty was signed in 1967, we could not have imagined that companies like SpaceX, founded by Tesla boss Elon Musk, would have the means to explore space without states.
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These private companies alone make up an extremely powerful and dynamic industry that we call NewSpace. How did they become established?
This development goes back to the 2000s. At that time, the USA wanted to reduce its investments in the space sector, which were considered exorbitant, and delegate some of the tasks of the American agency NASA to private players. The decisive factor in this decision was the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia in 2003, in which seven astronauts died. Private companies then began working with space agencies. Elon Musk (Tesla), Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and even Richard Branson (Virgin), the respective founders of SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, had extremely large sums to invest that matched their ambitions. For years they spent money that is unthinkable for public buildings, and their investments bore fruit.
Today, SpaceX is able to independently build its own rockets and satellites and send them into space. And its Starlink constellation of 2,800 satellites represents 45% of all active satellites in low Earth orbit.
How do you see the future of space exploration?
It all depends on what we are talking about. Space exploration continues successfully, as evidenced by the James Webb Telescope, located 1.5 million kilometers from Earth, which this year returned fantastic photos of Mars and the Orion Nebula. However, there is a lack of resources for research. We astronomers are no match for the giants of NewSpace, whose satellites interfere with our observations because they reflect the sun's rays and leave light trails in the photos we take from Earth. And if we delete these traces from the photos, we risk altering the images and losing valuable information… In this way, space exploration is being undermined by the increasingly important space exploitation. Today, companies are thinking about drilling asteroids to mine minerals or extract helium 3 (3He), a light and rare gas that is abundant on the lunar surface and used in the nuclear industry. These projects worry me. I have the impression that we make the same mistakes in space as we do on Earth. I am even more concerned that these activities are currently not regulated by international law. Do we have to wait for a catastrophe, for example a collision with the International Space Station, for the players in the sector to finally sit down at the table and set the appropriate rules?
In 2001, Dennis Tito, an American businessman, became the first space tourist to board a Russian mission after purchasing a $20 million ticket. The event seems almost banal today as these excursions have multiplied. What inspires you about the growth of this very special tourism?
To be honest, I'm a bit jealous, I'd love to fly into space myself one day! The heavenly stars and their beauty have made me dream since I was a child. But these developments also make me uncomfortable and I regret that space has lost its mystery, its sacred character: I won't go up there if it's just to take a walk! Space tourism is a business, a niche reserved for the wealthiest citizens, and this new industry sometimes thrives at the expense of more scientific goals. I would like this money to be used to fund space research instead…
Millions of wastes circle the earth
- 2,250 satellites are still in orbit but no longer function.
- 36,500 pieces of debris larger than 10 cm.
- 1,000,000 pieces of debris ranging in size from 1 to 10 cm.
- 130,000,000 fragments measuring between 1 mm and 1 cm.
Of the 8,800 satellites currently in orbit, a quarter are… wrecks! And that's just the most visible part of the problem: the European Space Agency estimates that there are around 131 million pieces of trash orbiting the Earth. And the smallest of them, less than ten centimeters tall, are not harmless. On the contrary: due to their size, these wastes are not easy to detect and monitor. They therefore threaten still functioning satellites and manned ships, which have to maneuver more and more frequently to avoid collisions.
➤ Report published in the magazine GEO Alsace, No. 526, from December 2022.
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