This is unbelievable given the incredibly short time, only 51 years, that humans have had access to orbit around Earth. Via the European Space Agency (ESA) come high resolution images of all of the human-made objects that litter our previously pristine orbit. The image above only depicts those objects in low Earth orbit (LEO). Here are some staggering space garbage facts:
- We have put upwards of 6000 satellites into orbit from 4600 orbital launches
- 400 of these are beyond geostationary orbit or are on interplanetary trajectories
- Only 800 satellites of the 6000 are considered operational
- Most of the debris has come from explosion events (200) or collision events (10)
As we contemplate commercial orbital access, and look to things like space tourism to make the experience of space travel viable for many more people, this is a difficult reality to process. First, the amount of space debris is only going to increase, and most probably exponentially as the number of active space programs, both private and government, continues to rapidly increase. Second, there is real concern around protecting space vehicles, space stations, and future satellites from imminent collisions with this debris. That adds tremendous cost, complexity and weight to programs that are already stretched for budget and capacity. This is not impossible to overcome, and engineers have been thinking about this issue for awhile given some of the close calls with the Space Shuttle and the ISS. Still, another complexity added to an already very complex process.
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