According to the annual report from the European Space Agency (ESA) on the state of the space environment, the amount of space debris is rapidly increasing. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that the number of non-functional satellites significantly exceeds the number of operational ones. Researchers warn that the risk of collisions in low Earth orbit is rising and will continue to escalate at an alarming rate. They assert that “even without additional launches, the amount of space debris will keep growing, as fragmentation creates new debris objects faster than existing debris can re-enter the atmosphere, a phenomenon known as the Kessler syndrome.”
“This chain reaction could eventually render some orbits dangerous and unusable, as debris continues to collide and fragment, creating a cascading effect,” the ESA explained. This means that it’s not enough to simply refrain from adding new debris; active efforts are needed to clean up the space around us.
What else did the scientists report? Experts revealed that current monitoring programs track about 40,000 objects in low Earth orbit, of which around 11,000 are active satellites. However, the estimated amount of debris is much larger. According to ESA estimates, there are approximately 54,000 fragments of debris larger than 10 centimeters in orbit, 1.2 million measuring between 1 and 10 centimeters, and about 130 million ranging from 1 millimeter to 1 centimeter. Surprisingly, tiny debris particles traveling at high speeds can cause significant damage to operational satellites and spacecraft, including the International Space Station and the Hubble Space Telescope.
But there is some good news. “About 90 percent of rocket bodies in low Earth orbit currently leave important orbits in accordance with the return-to-atmosphere standards that were in place until 2023, with more than half returning in a controlled manner. Approximately 80 percent also meet the new, stricter standard for orbit clearance within five years, which the ESA adopted in 2023,” the publication Science Alert quoted the researchers.
Concerned scientists believe that cleaning up the space around Earth will be a complex task requiring global cooperation. Only through collective efforts can we preserve Earth’s orbit as a functional space for all of us.