In late March, the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) said one of its satellite missions left “virtually no debris in orbit” after lowering a spent rocket stage to burn up in the atmosphere during atmospheric reentry. ” announced.
resemble Deorbit technique It will be used to make future missions “debris-free” by the end of this decade. Isro Chairman S. Somanath said last week.
“Over the years, within ISRO, debris management” Somanath said at a session hosted by the Interagency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC) for 13 members, including all major space-faring nations. We will take steps to ensure that it is deorbited and transported to a safe location. ”
Related: Kessler syndrome and space debris problem
India currently has 54 spacecraft in orbit, excluding non-functional satellites, of which 13 are Leaving orbit for re-entry into the earth’s atmosphere last year. In February, ISRO’s Kaltsat-2 Earth observation satellite, launched in 2007, descended into the Indian Ocean for a controlled atmospheric entry, destroying all major parts of the satellite. predicted to evaporate During the event.
This is not always the case. It is difficult to predict whether a particular satellite will completely burn up during reentry, and scientists are beginning to realize that more objects survive the journey to the surface than previously thought. I am. For example, just last month, debris from a pallet of used batteries was thrown from a ship into the ocean. international space station — Garbage that NASA predicted would burn up completely — Crashes into house in Florida.
low earth orbit The Earth is littered with about 30,000 objects larger than a softball and millions more smaller than a centimeter, orbiting the Earth at up to 10 times the speed of a bullet. Spent rocket stages and dead or malfunctioning satellites abandoned in Earth orbit are a major source of space debris from collisions and explosions, and space agencies and private companies are building artificially engineered satellites for atmospheric entry. The satellite is intentionally lowered.
Even if 1 million more satellites Although it is predicted to go LEO in the next few years, questions remain about the environmental impact of the satellite burning up in Earth’s atmosphere.a bomb research Last October, an unexpectedly large amount of evaporated metal was discovered. pollute the earth’s stratosphereThere is a fragile ozone layer, whose chemical composition can change depending on the material on the satellite.another study A paper posted on the preprint server arXiv last December suggested that debris from burning satellites may be somehow disrupting Earth’s magnetic field.
“We surround the Earth with trash,” said Sierra Salter-Hunt, an American physicist and doctoral candidate at the University of Iceland who wrote the December study. Says. previously told Space.com. “It’s going to be more and more, and it’s going to cause different chemical reactions. But we basically don’t understand it.”
