Planet Now Has 7,500 Low-Earth Orbit Satellites, More Than 30,000 Manmade Floating Objects

Humans have managed to clog an area known as low Earth orbit (GEO) during the last century. With each passing year, the quantity of garbage in LEO - and the area above it, known as geosynchronous orbit (GEO) - grows, as does the public's anxiety over space junk.

Thousands of these objects are tracked by space organizations, with a combined mass of more than 9,000 metric tons, Salon said. The tiniest detectable objects are roughly the size of a softball, with a diameter of little more than 10 cm. The biggest is comparable to a Greyhound bus.

Low-Earth Orbiting Satellites: 7,500 Items Can Harm Planet Someday

Supriya Chakbarati, a physicist and professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, wrote an article in The Conversation regarding Earth's numerous satellites and how they will continue to develop in the future years. The physics professor discussed the history of satellites and their success in low-Earth orbit, which he believes is the best and most cost-effective way to get them up above.

According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, there are currently 7,500 LEO satellites in orbit and operational in the fleet, up from 7,500 in September 2021. Other flights have delivered these orbiters between September and now, implying that the population has grown unknowingly.

However, this is not currently a concern, mainly because the fleet is expected to increase in the next months and years as corporations invest more in satellite technology and services. Other businesses, like Starlink, can gain from using or exploiting space technology to improve their services, such as integration.

The expansion of the satellite sector is paving the way for a dangerous future, particularly as they focus on establishing a link from another planet.

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More Than 30,000 Orbiting Manmade Objects

Meanwhile, the European Space Agency's Space Debris Office noted roughly 36,500 orbiting manmade objects bigger than 10 cm (4 inches) wide, such as defunct satellites and rocket stages.

The majority of these objects are in low Earth orbit. A speck of paint may damage an International Space Station (ISS) glass. A marble-sized item can breach a pressurized module because of the high speeds involved.

Multi-layer shielding provides some protection to the ISS modules, reducing the risk of puncture and depressurization. However, there's still a chance that something like this may happen before the ISS's lifetime ends near the end of the decade.

Space Junk from LEO Can Cause Collisions, Challenging To Remove

The increasing number of satellites in LEO may eventually result in a cascade of collisions that distribute space debris over LEO, preventing us from launching new rockets. The Kessler syndrome is a scenario that many astronomers worry may prevent mankind from becoming a multiplanet species if space debris is not kept under control.

The Kessler effect will not kick on at a specific time, according to Live Science. Rather, due to an imbalance in debris formation and clearance rates, it is a slow change. However, according to the report, some data shows that active material clearance from LEO is necessary to prevent the Kessler syndrome from taking root.

According to Scientific American, removing space trash from LEO is logistically difficult, and there is currently no agreed-upon disposal technique.