Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
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Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
There are now nearly 15 000 active #satellites in orbit around the Earth, most of them part of mega-constellations in which each satellite has a service life of only a few years.
New satellites must be quickly launched as replacements. To avoid leaving old, dead satellites in Earth’s already-crowded low orbits, most satellite operators deliberately de-orbit them into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
That approach is now being taken to a vastly larger scale and there are implications for Earth’s #climate and #atmosphere.
Rocket launches already contribute to climate change and #ozone depletion.
Scaling them up to deploy a million aircraft-sized satellites would push upper-atmosphere heating and ozone loss far beyond previous estimates, with the steady burn-up of dead satellites compounding the impacts.
This is just a fraction of what is to come if planned mega-constellations go ahead. Operators worldwide have already asked for a combined total of over one million satellites.
The very smallest particles, finer than a human hair, can stay suspended in the atmosphere for years, contributing to ozone depletion and climate change.
A million satellites could mean that a teragram of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand.
There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.
#space #astronomy
https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366 -
Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
There are now nearly 15 000 active #satellites in orbit around the Earth, most of them part of mega-constellations in which each satellite has a service life of only a few years.
New satellites must be quickly launched as replacements. To avoid leaving old, dead satellites in Earth’s already-crowded low orbits, most satellite operators deliberately de-orbit them into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
That approach is now being taken to a vastly larger scale and there are implications for Earth’s #climate and #atmosphere.
Rocket launches already contribute to climate change and #ozone depletion.
Scaling them up to deploy a million aircraft-sized satellites would push upper-atmosphere heating and ozone loss far beyond previous estimates, with the steady burn-up of dead satellites compounding the impacts.
This is just a fraction of what is to come if planned mega-constellations go ahead. Operators worldwide have already asked for a combined total of over one million satellites.
The very smallest particles, finer than a human hair, can stay suspended in the atmosphere for years, contributing to ozone depletion and climate change.
A million satellites could mean that a teragram of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand.
There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.
#space #astronomy
https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366 -
R relay@relay.an.exchange shared this topic
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Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
There are now nearly 15 000 active #satellites in orbit around the Earth, most of them part of mega-constellations in which each satellite has a service life of only a few years.
New satellites must be quickly launched as replacements. To avoid leaving old, dead satellites in Earth’s already-crowded low orbits, most satellite operators deliberately de-orbit them into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
That approach is now being taken to a vastly larger scale and there are implications for Earth’s #climate and #atmosphere.
Rocket launches already contribute to climate change and #ozone depletion.
Scaling them up to deploy a million aircraft-sized satellites would push upper-atmosphere heating and ozone loss far beyond previous estimates, with the steady burn-up of dead satellites compounding the impacts.
This is just a fraction of what is to come if planned mega-constellations go ahead. Operators worldwide have already asked for a combined total of over one million satellites.
The very smallest particles, finer than a human hair, can stay suspended in the atmosphere for years, contributing to ozone depletion and climate change.
A million satellites could mean that a teragram of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand.
There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.
#space #astronomy
https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366*literally* skyrocketed
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Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
There are now nearly 15 000 active #satellites in orbit around the Earth, most of them part of mega-constellations in which each satellite has a service life of only a few years.
New satellites must be quickly launched as replacements. To avoid leaving old, dead satellites in Earth’s already-crowded low orbits, most satellite operators deliberately de-orbit them into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
That approach is now being taken to a vastly larger scale and there are implications for Earth’s #climate and #atmosphere.
Rocket launches already contribute to climate change and #ozone depletion.
Scaling them up to deploy a million aircraft-sized satellites would push upper-atmosphere heating and ozone loss far beyond previous estimates, with the steady burn-up of dead satellites compounding the impacts.
This is just a fraction of what is to come if planned mega-constellations go ahead. Operators worldwide have already asked for a combined total of over one million satellites.
The very smallest particles, finer than a human hair, can stay suspended in the atmosphere for years, contributing to ozone depletion and climate change.
A million satellites could mean that a teragram of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand.
There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.
#space #astronomy
https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366@mustapipa How can some billionaires in the USA can do what they like? Are there any global regulations? How can we fight this pollution?
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@mustapipa How can some billionaires in the USA can do what they like? Are there any global regulations? How can we fight this pollution?
@NatureMC We can fight this by demanding regulation all over the world. And ultimately, the tech billionaire class must be held accountable.
US needs politicians that tax them and remove their extraordinary powers. Granted, needs nothing short of a revolution but that is nothing unprecedented when looking at the social democratic revolutions about a century ago.
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*literally* skyrocketed
Not funny.
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Not funny.
Very concerning actually.
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Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
There are now nearly 15 000 active #satellites in orbit around the Earth, most of them part of mega-constellations in which each satellite has a service life of only a few years.
New satellites must be quickly launched as replacements. To avoid leaving old, dead satellites in Earth’s already-crowded low orbits, most satellite operators deliberately de-orbit them into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
That approach is now being taken to a vastly larger scale and there are implications for Earth’s #climate and #atmosphere.
Rocket launches already contribute to climate change and #ozone depletion.
Scaling them up to deploy a million aircraft-sized satellites would push upper-atmosphere heating and ozone loss far beyond previous estimates, with the steady burn-up of dead satellites compounding the impacts.
This is just a fraction of what is to come if planned mega-constellations go ahead. Operators worldwide have already asked for a combined total of over one million satellites.
The very smallest particles, finer than a human hair, can stay suspended in the atmosphere for years, contributing to ozone depletion and climate change.
A million satellites could mean that a teragram of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand.
There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.
#space #astronomy
https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366@mustapipa Frightening, plus the light pollution that comes with it and consequences for our health and animal health. The generations after us won't be able to enjoy a starry night and observe stars and planets the way we do - its a terrible development, that needs urgent attention (but won't get any).
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@NatureMC We can fight this by demanding regulation all over the world. And ultimately, the tech billionaire class must be held accountable.
US needs politicians that tax them and remove their extraordinary powers. Granted, needs nothing short of a revolution but that is nothing unprecedented when looking at the social democratic revolutions about a century ago.
@mustapipa Since my childhood, I dream that space and cosmos are something that doesn't belong to any states. I definitively watched too much Star Trek.
I fear that we don't have the time anymore (that the social democratic revolution took). But I still didn't give up hope. -
Over the past few years, the number of #satellite launches has skyrocketed.
There are now nearly 15 000 active #satellites in orbit around the Earth, most of them part of mega-constellations in which each satellite has a service life of only a few years.
New satellites must be quickly launched as replacements. To avoid leaving old, dead satellites in Earth’s already-crowded low orbits, most satellite operators deliberately de-orbit them into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
That approach is now being taken to a vastly larger scale and there are implications for Earth’s #climate and #atmosphere.
Rocket launches already contribute to climate change and #ozone depletion.
Scaling them up to deploy a million aircraft-sized satellites would push upper-atmosphere heating and ozone loss far beyond previous estimates, with the steady burn-up of dead satellites compounding the impacts.
This is just a fraction of what is to come if planned mega-constellations go ahead. Operators worldwide have already asked for a combined total of over one million satellites.
The very smallest particles, finer than a human hair, can stay suspended in the atmosphere for years, contributing to ozone depletion and climate change.
A million satellites could mean that a teragram of alumina accumulates in the upper atmosphere – enough, alongside launch emissions, to significantly alter atmospheric chemistry and heating in dramatic ways we do not yet understand.
There is no public mandate for a single company in one country to make changes on that scale to the planet’s atmosphere.
#space #astronomy
https://theconversation.com/a-new-space-race-could-turn-our-atmosphere-into-a-crematorium-for-satellites-276366a teragram of alumina
(pulls out a calculator) ...that's a million metric tons of metal, holy yikes -
R relay@relay.infosec.exchange shared this topic
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