The Rising Dangers of Space Junk: A Growing Mess Up There | SLICE SCIENCE | FULL DOCUMENTARY
Summary
TLDRThe script discusses the growing issue of orbital debris, tracing its origins to the space race and detailing the threats it poses to current and future space activities. It outlines the challenges in tracking and removing this debris, including the Kessler Syndrome, and highlights various initiatives and technologies being developed to mitigate the risks and clean up space. The summary also touches on the impact of mega constellations and the need for international regulations to ensure the sustainable use of space.
Takeaways
- 🛰️ Since the late 1950s, thousands of satellites have been launched into space for various purposes, including weather forecasting, communication, and military surveillance.
- 📡 Satellites orbit the Earth at incredible speeds and are equipped with advanced technology like computers, cameras, and sensors to perform their missions.
- ⚠️ Orbital debris, including non-functioning satellites and rocket parts, poses a significant threat to operational satellites and can cause a chain reaction of collisions.
- 🌌 The problem of space debris began with the launch of Sputnik 1, and since then, it has escalated with the addition of more satellites and space activities.
- 🔬 Scientists and engineers are working on detecting and mitigating the risks associated with orbital debris, including the development of space surveillance systems.
- 🛠️ Various methods are being explored to remove space debris, such as harpoons, nets, and robotic arms, but these solutions are still in developmental stages.
- 🌐 The growth of mega constellations, like SpaceX's Starlink and OneWeb, is increasing the number of satellites in orbit and exacerbating the space debris issue.
- 💡 There is an urgent need for international regulations and cooperation to manage space debris and ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities.
- 🚀 The 'polluter pays' principle suggests that each country should be responsible for the removal of its own debris from orbit.
- 🛡️ Shielding materials are being tested to protect satellites from small debris, but there is still no effective protection against larger, high-velocity impacts.
- 🔮 The future of space exploration is promising, but the increasing amount of space debris could jeopardize satellite services that are integral to modern life on Earth.
Q & A
How many satellites have been launched into space since the end of the 1950s?
-Since the end of the 1950s, mankind has launched thousands of satellites into space.
What are the typical speeds at which satellites orbit the Earth?
-Satellites typically orbit the Earth at incredible speeds, circling above our heads for several years.
What are the functions of satellites as mentioned in the script?
-Satellites perform precise missions such as photographing the Earth for weather forecasts, relaying telephone, television, and radio signals between locations on Earth, and for military purposes like spying on other countries.
What is the term used to describe non-functioning artificial objects in orbit?
-Non-functioning artificial objects in orbit are referred to as 'orbital debris' or 'space debris'.
What is the Kessler Syndrome and how does it relate to space debris?
-The Kessler Syndrome is a theoretical scenario where the density of objects in low Earth orbit is high enough that collisions between objects could cause a cascade of collisions, each generating space debris that increases the likelihood of further collisions.
What are the three different orbits used by satellites around the Earth?
-The three different orbits used by satellites are geostationary orbit, medium Earth orbit, and low Earth orbit.
What is the concept of a 'space tug' and how does it relate to space debris management?
-A 'space tug' is a concept for a multifunctional spacecraft that could perform various tasks including refueling, repairing, inspecting, and maintaining other satellites, as well as collecting space debris and deorbiting it.
What is the current estimate of objects larger than half an inch orbiting the Earth?
-The current estimate is that there are nearly a million objects larger than half an inch orbiting the Earth.
What is the 'graveyard orbit' and why is it used for decommissioned satellites?
-The 'graveyard orbit' is a higher orbit further from Earth where decommissioned satellites are moved using their last fuel reserves to ensure they do not interfere with operational satellites or other space activities.
What are some of the proposed solutions for managing space debris?
-Some proposed solutions for managing space debris include using robotic systems to capture and deorbit debris, employing space tugs for multifunctional space services including debris removal, and developing international regulations for satellite operations and deorbiting.
What is the concern regarding the increasing number of satellites launched by private companies like SpaceX and OneWeb?
-The concern is that the increasing number of satellites launched by private companies could exacerbate the space debris problem. While operators claim to have taken precautions, there are no international regulations in place, and failures could lead to more space junk.
Outlines
🚀 The Origin and Threat of Orbital Debris
This paragraph introduces the history of satellite launches since the 1950s and the resulting accumulation of orbital debris. It explains the various functions of satellites and how they become debris when they stop functioning or run out of power. The paragraph highlights the dangers of this debris, which travels at high speeds and can collide with other objects, creating an even greater amount of debris and posing a threat to operational satellites. The Cold War is mentioned as the backdrop to the space race, which led to an increase in satellite launches and consequently, more debris.
🌐 The Dangers of Orbital Debris and its Historical Context
The second paragraph delves into specific incidents involving orbital debris, such as the loss of control over Russian satellite Cosmos 954, which scattered radioactive material over Canada. It discusses the creation of debris from rocket launches and the accumulation of this debris over the years. The paragraph also explains the natural process by which low-altitude debris re-enters the Earth's atmosphere and typically burns up, but notes the risks posed when debris does not fully disintegrate and causes damage on Earth.
🛰️ The Organization of Orbits and Challenges of Debris Management
This paragraph outlines the different orbits used by satellites and the procedures for de-orbiting satellites at the end of their life cycle to avoid adding to the debris field. It describes the organized yet problematic state of Earth's orbital 'suburbs' and the challenges in managing the debris, including the unpredictability of satellite malfunctions and the impact of solar flares on satellite systems. The paragraph emphasizes the complexity of removing satellites from medium Earth orbit and the reliance on Earth's atmosphere to dispose of debris from low Earth orbit.
🌌 The Perils of Space Debris and the Kessler Syndrome
The fourth paragraph discusses the long-term presence and high velocities of orbital debris, which increase the likelihood of collisions. It introduces the concept of the Kessler Syndrome, a cascade of collisions that generates an exponentially growing cloud of debris. The paragraph highlights major events that have worsened the debris situation, such as the collision between Cosmos 2251 and Iridium 33, and deliberate satellite destruction by China and Russia, emphasizing the lack of international concern for the consequences of these actions.
🔭 The Impact of Satellite Debris on Everyday Life and Space Activities
This paragraph underscores the integral role of satellites in daily life, from GPS navigation to financial transactions, and the dependency on satellite services. It warns of the risk posed by the proliferation of debris to these services and the challenges space agencies face in launching new satellites amidst the debris field. The paragraph also mentions the quantified risk of satellite loss due to debris and the measures taken to mitigate these risks, such as space surveillance networks.
🛡️ Strategies for Detecting and Avoiding Orbital Debris
The sixth paragraph describes the efforts to monitor and predict the trajectories of orbital debris to prevent collisions with operational satellites. It details the space surveillance systems used by the United States and Europe, the cooperation between countries to share debris information, and the maneuvers performed by satellites like the International Space Station to avoid collisions. The paragraph also touches on the development of shielding materials to protect satellites from small debris impacts.
🛠️ Innovations in Space Debris Protection and the Role of 'Space Garbage Guys'
This paragraph explores the development of new technologies and professions focused on protecting satellites and astronauts from the dangers of space debris. It discusses the testing of shielding materials, the design of satellites resistant to small debris, and the challenges of protecting astronauts during spacewalks. The paragraph also introduces the concept of 'space garbage guys' and the engineering efforts to create robotic systems for debris removal, such as harpoons and other capturing mechanisms.
💡 The Development of Space Debris Solutions and the Challenges Ahead
The eighth paragraph highlights ongoing projects aimed at capturing and removing space debris, such as the RemoveDebris mission's harpoon and the Medusa project's tentacle-based capture method. It discusses the advantages and limitations of these technologies, the financial challenges of scaling debris removal operations, and the need for international cooperation and regulation to address the growing problem of space debris.
🚧 The Future of Space Debris Management and the Role of Mega-Constellations
The final paragraph addresses the future challenges posed by the increasing number of satellites launched into orbit, particularly the mega-constellations like SpaceX's Starlink and OneWeb. It raises concerns about the potential for more space debris as a result of these projects and the current lack of international regulations to manage satellite deorbiting and debris mitigation. The paragraph calls for global policies and the application of the polluter pays principle to ensure the long-term sustainability of space activities.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Orbital Debris
💡Space Race
💡Geostationary Orbit
💡Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
💡Kessler Syndrome
💡Space Surveillance Network
💡Spacewalk
💡Mega Constellations
💡Space Tug
💡Space Pugs
💡Polluter Pays Principle
Highlights
Since the late 1950s, thousands of satellites have been launched into space, performing various missions such as weather forecasting and communication signal relay.
Satellites orbiting Earth at high speeds can become space debris when they stop functioning, posing a threat to operational satellites.
Orbital debris travels at over 17,000 miles per hour, and collisions can generate thousands of smaller, hazardous pieces.
Nearly a million objects larger than half an inch have been counted in Earth's orbit, indicating the scale of the space debris problem.
The space race initiated by the Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957 marked the beginning of orbital debris issues.
The U.S. and Soviet Union's competition in space exploration led to increased satellite launches and consequently more space debris.
Nuclear-powered satellites, like the Russian Cosmos 954, have added radioactive material to the space debris problem.
Debris from rocket launches, including upper stages and fuel tanks, accumulates in orbit and contributes to the debris field.
Debris from non-functioning satellites and rocket parts can survive re-entry and sometimes crash on Earth.
There are approximately 36,000 trackable objects orbiting Earth, with an additional 30,000 that have fallen back.
Space debris poses a significant threat to the functionality of satellites, affecting telecommunications and other services.
Geostationary, medium Earth, and low Earth orbits are used by satellites, each with specific purposes and debris management challenges.
Satellites can be moved to avoid collisions with tracked debris, but imprecise data may require evacuation procedures for astronauts.
Shielding materials are being tested to protect satellites from hyper-velocity impacts using facilities like the space gun.
Robotic systems are being developed to capture and deorbit space debris, such as the Harpoon and Medusa projects.
The concept of space tugs is proposed for multifunctional use, including satellite refueling, repair, and debris removal.
Mega-constellations like SpaceX's Starlink and OneWeb are increasing the number of satellites in orbit, raising concerns about debris proliferation.
International regulations for space debris management are lacking, and the future sustainability of space orbits is a growing concern.
Transcripts
foreign
since the end of the 1950s mankind has
launched thousands of satellites into
space
Rockets play satellites in orbit where
they follow an elliptical path around
the Earth
oh
they Circle above our heads at
incredible speeds for several years and
undertake precise missions
for example
photographing the Earth to establish
weather forecasts
relaying telephone television and radio
signals between two locations on Earth
or in the case of military satellites
spying on other countries
controlled from the ground they are
equipped with computers cameras and
sensors
fuel batteries and solar panels provide
the energy required to accomplish their
missions
[Music]
some break down while others stop
working when they ran out of power
they become orbital debris circling the
earth at over 17
000 miles per hour
sometimes they hit other objects
generating thousands of smaller pieces
today nearly a million objects larger
than half an inch have been counted
[Music]
being struck by orbital debris is a
constant threat for all our satellites
and risks sending our society into the
past if nothing is done about it
the problem began 60 years ago
at the end of the 1950s mankind realized
that Earth's future was contingent on
space
in the middle of the Cold War the Soviet
Union triggered the space race when it
launched Sputnik the world's first
satellite
Cooper
at the national Center for space studies
in France rocket scientist Christoph
Bernal evokes the origins of the problem
the problem the orbital debris problem
started at the same time as the first
launch on October the 4th 1957 with the
launch of Sputnik 1.
after 21 days Sputnik stopped working
[Music]
it was a non-functioning artificial
object
this is what we call orbital zebri
[Music]
sputnik's brief existence came to an end
when it disintegrated in the Earth's
atmosphere three months after its launch
but the small satellite had Global
consequences
determined to catch up with the Soviets
the Americans created NASA
the Soviets Advance was extremely
important to astronautics the Soviets
had all the firsts first satellite
launch first person in space
and they raised the bar for the
Americans who had to increase their
missions in order to catch up
the Americans launched a series of 17
consecutive manned missions named Apollo
at the time nobody was concerned about
leaving wastes or even radioactive
elements in space
from 1967 to 1988 the Soviet Union
launched spy satellites fueled by
nuclear reactors
but some of these satellites were
defective
[Applause]
[Music]
in September 1977 American Radars
noticed that Russian satellite Cosmos
954 was making erratic maneuvers
it was the first nuclear Alert in the
space age
on January the 12th 1978 the Americans
contacted Soviet authorities regarding
the satellite
[Music]
days later the Russians confirmed
that they had lost control of their
device
when the satellite re-entered the
atmosphere it scattered radioactive
material all over Northern Canada
foreign the newspapers were quick to
report the demise of the Russian
satellite in North America
in the midst of the Cold War
soon became clear that orbital debris
could be a potential danger to the
population on Earth
[Music]
foreign
but it wasn't the only Danger
even launching satellites into orbit
creates debris
each rocket launch has left debris in
orbit leave your satellite old
satellites have stayed up there and
that's what has led to the situation we
find ourselves in today
during the years of the Space Race
satellites were not the only items put
into orbit
European Space Agency engineer radica
Yin has analyzed the orbital debris
created by rocket launches
when we launch a satellite the first
stage of the rocket provides enough
energy to go 10 kilometers in altitude
and then it falls back into the ocean
the last stage takes the satellite into
orbit but then it also stays in orbit
itself and becomes debris
[Music]
the upper stages of a rocket along with
fuel tanks and no scones are
systematically left in
[Music]
over the last 60 years much of this
debris has accumulated while some has
disintegrated
working alongside the European space
agencies space scientists Noelia Sanchez
Ortiz analyzes the circumstances and the
destiny of orbital debris
come mainly from satellites that we have
put in space once they stop working
historically we'll leave them there and
they remain orbiting around the earth
unless the satellite is placed in a very
low orbit and then it ends up falling in
our atmosphere
at low altitude debris moves at speeds
of 18 000 miles an hour but the Earth's
atmosphere gradually slows it down and
when pieces eventually fall to Earth
they are mostly destroyed
the air molecules are compressed by the
speed of the debris which creates heat
and eventually combustion causing the
pieces to break up
during the day there is little to see
but at night this Burning waste
sometimes looks like shooting stars
problems arise when this debris does not
burn up completely in the atmosphere
in 1997 the 550 pound fuel tank of a
Delta II rocket crashed near Georgetown
in Texas
in 2001 the third stage of a Delta II
rocket landed 150 miles from Saudi
Arabia's Capital Riyadh
in 2011 the nurse coat of a Sawyer's
rocket was found in Martinique and in
2013 several titanium tanks appeared in
the garden of an electrician in Texas
so far nobody has been killed but is
merely a question of time
in September 2016 the second stage of a
Falcon 9 rocket crashed into an
outbuilding on a small island near Java
[Music]
thank you
it seems that sometimes
the sky really does fall down
since orbital debris poses a threat to
the earth population it is now cataloged
and the risk evaluated
we estimate that there are about 36 000
objects orbiting the Earth we can add
the 30 000 or so objects that have
already fallen back to Earth
and they will stay there for some time
since all rocket launchers including
military operations are monitored it is
relatively easy to know what is circling
above our heads
all the artificial objects in space
satellites and debris orbiting above our
heads represents a mass of around 9000
tons to give you an idea the Eiffel
Tower is 7500 tons so a bit more than
that
vast area that is spaced an Eiffel
Tower's worth of small scattered pieces
is more like a cloud of dust
so in order to show a representation of
the debris we need to enlarge them
in real life the pieces are considerably
smaller
the suburbs of our planet
contain a mixture of working satellites
surrounded by circulating waste
[Music]
but the suburbs are nonetheless
organized
satellites around our Earth use three
different orbits
furthest from the earth is geostationary
orbit a thin layer 22 000 miles away
[Music]
[Music]
satellites in this orbit remain
constantly above the same point on the
equator and provide our
telecommunications telephone and
Computer Link ups and television
broadcasts
[Applause]
[Music]
each satellite is spaced on average of
40 miles apart
foreign
[Music]
satellites need to be removed when they
have served their time
their last fuel reserves are used to
de-orbit them to another area
[Music]
here the satellite is moved higher to a
graveyard orbit further from Earth where
it will not interfere with anything
medium earth orbit situated between 1200
and 22 000 miles in altitude is avoided
this vast zone is occupied by radio
navigation satellites like Galileo
if one of these satellites breaks down
it is placed into an intermediate orbit
where it will not interfere with any
others but if it runs out of fuel
nothing can be done
finally the closest orbit to earth is
known as low earth orbit and situated
below 1 200 miles in altitude
this is where the last 60 years of space
exploration has left the most debris
and the only way of getting rid of
debris in this area is to send it into
Earth's atmosphere where it
disintegrates
[Music]
India there are different areas on Earth
where objects can re-enter with almost
no risk because they are far from
populations for example there is an area
in the South Pacific which is very very
big and where we tend to re-enter large
objects
if the satellite still has fuel it is
possible to control its movements in low
medium and geostationary orbits
as long as it is still functioning
that some satellites can hurtle added
control even if they still have fuel
one of the problems we have with
satellites is that from time to time
they break down and we don't know why
they worked on Monday Tuesday Wednesday
and on Thursday bam broken and we've had
no warning there's been no sign that
anything was wrong
foreign
operators are loath to talk about
malfunctions for fear of losing
credibility yet most failures are caused
by Nature interfering with safety
measures
when we analyze the cause of these
malfunctions it can for example be a
result of a solar flare
[Music]
during solar storms our sun releases
huge amounts of energy that disperses
electrically charged particles into
space
Earth's electromagnetic field acts as a
shield protecting us from particles
visible during the Northern Lights
[Music]
but satellites are like sitting ducks
solar radiation is capable of wiping out
navigation systems
and despite being protected with
high-tech gold foil
it is estimated that a dozen or so
satellites are destroyed each year by
solar flares
turning them into orbital debris
[Music]
space is an infinite empty space with
some junk moving around above our heads
and these objects pose two problems
first when they are in orbit they're
there for a long time for example an
object at an altitude of 600 miles will
stay there for a thousand or two
thousand years secondly during the
course of these thousand or two thousand
years they are moving at speeds of 18
000 miles an hour eighteen thousand
miles an hour for a thousand years is a
lot so the probability of crashing into
something during that time is very high
until 2007 experts tracked around 12 000
large pieces of junk but since then
three major events have caused the
situation to degenerate
the most serious involved Cosmos 2251 a
Russian satellite in low earth orbit
that suddenly stopped working the
Russians could no longer communicate
with it and were unable to deorbit it to
Earth
[Music]
foreign
trajectory of the same altitude a brand
new American satellite called iridium 33
was in orbit
[Music]
the impact sent debris flying in all
directions
[Music]
around two and a half thousand pieces
larger than three inches and many other
smaller fragments were ejected into
space
posing a threat to all the devices in
low earth orbit
[Music]
this Collision proves that an out of
control object in low orbit is a danger
to all working satellites
another event worthy of Star Wars took
place when China decided to deliberately
destroy a weather satellite that was no
longer in use
using a ballistic missile armed with an
infrared seeker and a warhead
[Music]
it was an arrogant show of strength by
Chinese authorities with no concern for
the consequences
[Music]
on the 15th of November 2021 the
Russians returned fire
with a noodle missile
[Music]
its Target was a decommissioned
satellite called Cosmos 1408
[Music]
[Music]
the resulting explosion scattered 1500
pieces of large debris into low orbit in
all directions
these events were arrogant shows of
strength by Major Powers with no concern
for the consequences
everybody is talking about the events
caused by the Chinese and Russian
governments destroying a satellite on
purpose
we all now know that these types of
events are the greatest source of a risk
of collision to our satellites in space
as a result there are now more than a
million pieces of debris larger than
half an inch circling the earth
and some of these pieces come not from
satellites
but from Rockets
in the fuel tank of a normal rocket that
takes satellites into orbits you have
one chamber where liquid oxygen and
another with liquid nitrogen and I'm
sure you remember from school that when
these two guesses mix it becomes nitrous
oxide and it explodes and that's what
happens again and again in space
not all the fuel is used to the last
drop this Reserve fuel mixes and instead
of having an intact upper level you have
a thousand pieces of debris which remain
in orbit
like a pandemic this junk proliferates
and risks creating even more debris
this phenomenon is known as Kessler
syndrome
in honor of the NASA consultant who
described analyzed and Quantified it we
currently have enough objects in Earth
orbit once every 10 years we expect two
objects to run together and create a
major breakup
[Music]
Dawn Kessler proposed the scenario back
in 1978
since then it has been proven multiple
times
like the cosmos iridium equation back in
2009 about every five years we expect
collisions between some large object and
a large fragment to also produce some
debris
[Music]
Don Kessler also predicted that the
collisions would have a cascading effect
where each Collision increases the
likelihood of further collisions
the issue becomes when this happens an
object can come in and hit the satellite
and produce a spray of particles that
are very numerous in number for the
smallest particles
that those can go on and because they're
traveling so fast can damage spacecraft
then you also produce about a hundred
big enough fragments that will go on and
hit another satellite in the same way
and break that satellite up and so you
have this slow cascading phenomena going
on
[Music]
this theory was proven accurate in 1996
when debris from Ariane rocket launched
10 years before crossed paths with a
French military satellite called Cerise
[Music]
knocking out a 10-foot stabilization
boom and causing Cerise to Tumble out of
control
this incident is just one example of
such a chain reaction in space
non-functioning satellites and Rocket
leftovers have created clouds of debris
traveling around the world at 18 000
miles an hour hitting working satellites
and creating even more debris
[Music]
this proliferation could endanger a huge
range of activities on Earth
foreign
it's easy to forget that satellites are
a major part of our daily lives
[Music]
we all expect to open our mobile phone
and look for a place where we want to go
and find the directions to get there we
use satellite positioning technology
in the same way when we go on a trip we
withdraw money at an ATM in America and
we obtain that money thanks to satellite
telecommunications that connect with our
bank in Europe
it's hard to imagine life without
smartphones
bank cards
or GPS systems
nowadays we wouldn't live long without
satellites yet the proliferation of
debris risks compromising today's
constantly diversifying satellite
services
so all space agencies have to take
Serious risks each time they launch
the European Space Agency
if we are waiting for a situation where
our uncertainty volume is completely
empty that would mean we could never
launch so believe it or not we are
launching despite
of the possibility of having
conjunctions with objects because
otherwise there would never be in a
green light for launch
the risk is now proven and even
Quantified
the odds of losing a satellite are five
percent
part of it is the risk of being hit by
debris the other parts are simple there
is complicated Hardware that can break
causing the satellite to be lost but the
likelihood of losing a satellite can
quickly reach 10 or 20 percent with the
increase in orbital debris
the European Space Agency estimates that
the risk of collision will rise to 20
percent by 2038.
so one out of every five satellites
would not complete its Mission it's a
huge figure
space agencies have had to look at ways
of negotiating this Minefield and
detecting the circling waste
since 1957 the United States has been
using a space surveillance Network to
predict where and when orbital debris
will enter the Earth's atmosphere
[Music]
they have established a catalog of the
debris that is currently in orbit and
use this to determine which country owns
the debris that is entering the
atmosphere they can also warn NASA if
debris is at risk of interfering with
their satellites
over time as the number of artificial
objects in orbit has multiplied this
system has been refined and computerized
but in Europe a similar space
surveillance system was not put in place
until 40 years later
in 1996 when debris from the Ariane
rocket damaged military satellite Cerise
the French Ministry of Defense created a
system known as Krav
[Music]
itz
system a space events network is our
main sensor that allows us to detect
objects that orbit around 250 to 600
miles in altitude as long as they are
large enough to be detected by radar
in other words if they are the size of a
large washing machine
to detect orbiting satellites up to 600
miles above France even when it's cloudy
the system uses a particular radar that
makes real-time calculations to follow
and anticipate the trajectories of
thousands of satellites
the grav system was able to detect 30 or
so Chinese and American spy satellites
that had not been cataloged previously
today international relations in space
are a mixture and an extension of those
on the ground in other words there is as
much Mutual Aid as there is competition
or sometimes open confrontations
France agreed to keep quiet about the
Spy satellites but in return they asked
the Americans for access to their
orbital debris catalog this catalog is
considerably more detailed than the
European version since the Americans can
detect objects as small as four inches
we deal with the problem of small
objects by franco-american cooperation
that allows us to retrieve information
even at the confidential level
this constant space surveillance is
efficient and allows civilian and
Military satellites to avoid collisions
with orbital debris if there is a risk
ground-based operators can move their
satellites slightly out of their orbit
these Maneuvers happen more and more
often particularly for the largest
satellite of all time the International
Space Station this inhabited satellite
is threatened by debris several times a
year
[Music]
around
[Music]
[Applause]
the station that's very interesting
[Music]
way in space
to avoid orbital debris with an
identified trajectory the space station
has to be moved from its course
in 2012 it avoided a piece of debris
from the collision between the Iridium
and Cosmos satellites three years
previously
in 2021 the space station was forced to
slalom five times between flying junk
this constant threat has become part of
the astronaut's daily lives
the space station is on the Collision
Course with a small piece of space junk
as we've heard from the grounds my watch
is beeping as a warning we have to take
the ISS into a higher orbit for this we
have to turn on the engines for 37
seconds and that is actually the only
time in which we can measure or feel any
acceleration on board suddenly we are no
longer weightless but we are pushed
backwards by the engines of the space
station
come back to me
[Music]
correct
sometimes the ballistic data about
debris is imprecise in which case no
risks are taken and the astronauts are
told to evacuate the station
urgently they take refuge in the Escape
module which can be separated from the
station and could return the astronauts
to Earth
[Music]
second
but evacuation isn't necessary every
time
frequently orbital debris is not
detected if it is smaller than four
inches
[Music]
nowadays there are around 150 million
pieces of junk that are too small to be
tracked by radars
in order to avoid this Menace satellites
and the space station
need to be protected
in Freiburg in Germany scientists from
The fraunhofer Institute test shielding
material using a super fast accelerator
known as a space gun
this space gun fires tiny metal balls at
various shielding materials
series of Chambers reproduces conditions
in space
they are filled with light gases and
accelerate the balls close to the same
speed as orbital debris 15 000 miles an
hour
at this speed the behavior of collisions
is very different from that on Earth
during a car crash for instance
when a car hits a wall or another car at
30 miles an hour it is deformed and
thousands of pieces of debris are
created as the material fragments
but at hyperbolocity speeds above 6700
miles an hour a collision creates
different physical phenomena
is fragmented so parts of data
vaporized and ionized and the other
parts can't be stency really huge
pressure loads which we had after behind
the Shockwave
hyper velocity a one millimeter ball has
more energy than a baseball flying at 60
miles an hour
reinforced doors protect the laboratory
the high-speed camera Which films more
than a million frames per second records
the moment of impact
as a safety precaution no one can stay
in the room while the space gun is being
fired
[Music]
thank you
the results of these tests on different
satellite components are then analyzed
the International Space Station we
tested Severus Shields but we also try
to test the components like a space
solar cells or components like tanks
which are located behind the walls of a
satellite
using Ultra slow motion images
the Space Gun T manages to understand
and model what happens during a
collision
[Music]
their work allows them to come up with
structures that are both light and
resistant to hyper velocity impacts
they have just proved that doubling or
tripling insulation layers can protect
satellite components hit by debris
smaller than four inches
the first layer fragments for debris the
second dissipates its energy and
protects the third layer
thanks to these experiments scientists
have been able to design satellites that
are resistant to small debris
but even today
we are unable to protect astronauts when
they are outside their vehicles during
space walks they remain exposed to small
debris that can't be detected by Radars
or seen by the human eye since they are
traveling so fast
even a minor impact would puncture an
astronaut's suit and lead to instant
death
[Music]
thank you
H1
[Music]
because of this risk NASA is actively
developing robots that could replace
humans to accomplish maintenance
operations outside the spacecraft
[Applause]
[Music]
though even robots would be unable to
withstand a collision with debris of
more than half an inch
[Music]
obviously the less debris there is the
better
cultures around the world have tried to
establish rules for the
non-proliferation of large debris as
they have done for land-based nuclear
weapons
for example satellite operators are
asked to empty all fuel on board their
space vehicles
all Rockets are equipped with systems to
vent or burn excess fuel A system that
is tested on the ground before each
launch
[Music]
[Applause]
satellites are limited to a maximum
25-year lifespan in orbit
finally objects in low earth orbit that
do not completely burn up on re-entry
are steered towards broad ocean areas
for their final impact
however these rules are not always
respected particularly since there is no
governing body to police offenders
and as time passes the amount of junk
increases
we're generating debris faster that it
can clean out by the atmosphere and
that's what we refer to as being an
unsustainable environment
there's only one real solution to this
problem clean out the debris that is
orbiting around the earth well you have
to bring back some of the objects that
we've left in orbit
based on the polluter pays principle
each country is supposed to finance the
elimination of its own debris
since 2013 Space Engineers have been
creating a new profession
space garbage guy
the idea is to come up with robotic
systems that can deal with large pieces
of garbage by sending them into a junk
incinerator
the Earth's atmosphere
[Music]
but it's a difficult task since orbital
debris moves like an asteroid spinning
around as it orbits because of gravity
[Music]
around the world the borages have been
coming up with robot satellites that
could capture debris and deorbit it
that's what they're working on at the
remove debris project at the Surrey
Space Center in England
in the real Mission you'll be dealing
with uncorporated debris that may be
spinning Space Engineers use technical
terms but their projects seem more like
children's games
Technologies we have on our mission is
the harpoon
it seems unlikely that the team is
developing a harpoon capable of
attaching onto a piece of debris in
order to drag it into the atmosphere
in our mission the remove debris Mission
the thing we're actually testing is the
impact mechanism of the Harpoon on a
natural Target plate
[Music]
the team is still at the experimental
stage where it is testing a miniature
Harpoon on a stationary Target
[Music]
first attempt
failed the Harpoon did not leave its
sheath because of an electromagnetic
problem second attempt hopefully the
Harpoon should be able to impact exactly
where you want it to hit three two one
fire
the trial and error method is a long
process but the team is improving its
system the first full-scale test in
space in 2019 was a success
[Music]
fully when that goes into space because
of the lack of gravity the alignment
should be much better than the tests we
can perform on Earth
the trial and error method is a long
process but step-by-step the team is
improving its system the first
full-scale tests in space will take
place in 2020
the Harpoon is not the only tool
envisaged by Space Engineers the South
Africa space agency created as recently
as 2010 has come up with its own
cleaning solutions that it hopes to
Market later
[Music]
one of their projects involves building
a small satellite capable of unfolding
its tentacles to capture debris hence
its name Medusa
Medusa will enclose the debris and drag
mover to where it needs to be either to
grave orbit or you decrease your
altitude and eventually tossed as debris
back into atmosphere and let it burn up
as the re-entry another advantage of the
menusa satellites is that they can be
launched in Squadron so as tests from
the International Space Station have
shown
Medusa is very light it's about 175
grams it is designed to be put onto
cubesats which is satellite the size
a cubesat is a small multi-use satellite
in the shape of a four inch Cube
developed by a Californian University
dozens of them can be launched at a time
which keeps costs down
it's a godsend for researchers
who have no other way of running
experiments in space
[Music]
coupled with cubesats that have already
proven themselves Medusa should be able
to eliminate debris over a long period
at the moment there's a lot of proposal
like harpoons a lot of them are one U so
you fire one time you miss you miss the
uniqueness of Medusa is that it allows
multiple attempts so the idea is to use
it many times as you can to remove small
targets
but the drawback with Medusa is that it
only targets small space junk
for large non-functioning satellites
other tools are necessary which opens up
the problem of financing these
operations
[Music]
unfortunately none of these Solutions is
ready for use nobody is ready to pay the
high price necessary to get rid of large
orbital debris
the bigger it is the more it causes
problems because any damage creates more
junk
the largest non-operational piece is
envisad an observation satellite the
size of a bus that was launched in 2002
by the European Space Agency
the time the agency was trying to get
the biggest return from their investment
but today Redding distances himself from
his predecessor's actions
they just want to maximize the revenue
they they use the last drop of fuel for
their operations rather than using the
fuel for deorbiting and this is the the
problem
when it was built it was the largest
observation satellite ever constructed
after five years of activity and having
circled the Earth around thirty thousand
times it should have been deorbited
before the end of its mission
[Music]
however ten years after being launched
the European Space Agency lost all
control of nbisat on April the 8th 2012
today it is a ticking time bomb as it
crosses paths with many other working
satellites
[Music]
the situation is so critical that the
European Space Agency is funding an
ambitious program to try and remove and
besat from its but
we believe that throwing a net could be
an option because throwing a net means
you will later have a connection by a
tether and that means they captured
envisad inside the net can be pulled
to test this space net Engineers use an
aircraft to recreate spaces zero gravity
conditions
[Music]
at the top of its parabolic flight in
the form of a bell it releases
passengers and objects from Earth's
gravity for several seconds
enough time to test a miniature version
of the net they will use to catch an
8-ton satellite
tests have prove that adding weight to
the corners of the net allows it to
enclose the body of a satellite without
snagging on its fragile solar panel
now all they have to do is build a
tractor satellite that can retrieve
invisat and return it to
Ports certainly more heavy than the
remover vehicle when you have to remove
something which is more heavy than
yourself it's better to pull than to
push because it keeps a more stable
scenario
[Music]
though it is essential for space safety
even this project is still in the
theoretical stages
for one simple reason
we have investigated the problem to look
for a solution but it would cost half a
billion euros
[Music]
for Technical and economic reasons no
robot garbage collector is ready for
work at this time
for this to become workable the cleanup
operation would need to be free like if
it was a passenger on another mission
and what seems to be quite promising is
what we call space pugs
the space tug would be multifunctional a
kind of space-based Swiss Army knife
it would refill a satellite on Tuesday
it would repair another on Wednesday it
would inspect a satellite on Thursday it
would do maintenance
and on Friday it would return to Earth
and it would gather up a piece of space
junk and send it into the atmosphere
however according to the Airbus
Engineers who are currently developing
space tags some technological problems
remain
what we cannot do at the moment is a
scheduled rendezvous with a Target that
has not been designed for this purpose
for example an old satellite or a piece
of orbital debris
a space Rendezvous is an organized and
controlled meeting between two space
devices we need to develop new
autonomous technologies that can manage
on their own
they would be based on Vision sensors
that would scan the environment and
analyze the contents of the images they
acquire
and this data analysis will detect the
parts of the objects that interest it in
order to be able to catch them and
manipulate them
the Space Tag project is still being
studied but thanks to Major funding the
first efficient cleaning service may
come into use by 2025.
as well as the European space agency and
envisatt space tax already have other
new clients private companies are
currently sending thousands of
satellites into low earth orbit to
create a new kind of network
these projects known as Mega
constellations have already become a
reality with satellites like spacex's
starlink or the one web project
oneweb's Visionary entrepreneur managed
to convince America's internet Giants as
well as European Airbus to make massive
investments in the fabrication of a
series of hundreds of satellites
its aim to guarantee internet access to
the most remote parts of the globe
[Music]
oneweb has designed this building and
will soon be launching a constellation
of satellites to bridge the digital
divide
provide high-speed Broadband access to
the half of the world the four billion
people without access today
in the initial constellation we're going
to have 882 satellites in 2022 the
number of Mega constellation satellites
in orbit exceeds the number of
satellites launched since the beginning
of the Space Race this has raised
concerns among spaced every specialists
Mega constellations are the big thing at
the moment for example Starling by
SpaceX Elon Musk today he has about 2
000 satellites in orbit in a first
generation that will make twelve
thousand then a second generation that
will make forty two thousand there is
also one web there are about 500
satellites and there are many other
constellations like this we expect to
have about 100 000 new satellites in
orbit by 2030. yet the promoters of
these Mammoth projects maintain that
they have taken all the precautions
necessary there are some things we
really need to think very carefully
about and creating some regulatory
environment so that the deorbit and the
operations are done in a manner
consistent with long-term use of space
for Humanity
we definitely have to think about how to
clean up space debris but we must also
consider the option of imposing a space
traffic system in the same way that we
have a system for Aviation
there is also the danger that space will
be filled with even more garbage if
there are failures there are satellites
that break down which will then circle
around as junk and that's my concern
that there will be more space to breathe
it is well known that wherever people go
they leave rubbish in their wake
[Music]
we know where the ISS is we know where
our satellites are we've done a lot of
internal resiliency and redundancy to
make sure we have control and management
of our satellite for the deorbit phase
despite reassurances from their
operators Mega constellation satellites
do sometimes stop working today with all
these new satellites that we're sending
into space thousands tens of thousands
hundreds of thousands of satellites
there's no problem as long as they work
but there are currently no International
regulations in place
[Music]
the solution would have to come from
above from the United Nations
legislating and forcing people to get
involved in cleaning up the space debris
yet most of the people engaged in space
exploration claim to be advocating for
policies
we're concerned there is no Global body
that regulates this it's a bunch of
different groups thinking about
regulating it a bunch of different
countries that have a variety of
thoughts about regulation without
actually putting meat on the bone
the future of the space industry is
promising but on the contrary the future
of space orbits is more worrying
there are more players putting
satellites into orbit not just large
Nations but also smaller Nations that
have this capacity their governments and
their private companies
while waiting for space to apply the
polluter pays rule orbital debris is a
major concern for satellite operators
and although few people on Earth are
aware of the problem one day soon our
lives could be spinning out of control
yes
foreign
[Music]
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