Elon Musk’s Space X is planning for a satellite constellation 1 million strong. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is planning for two constellations of tens of thousands of satellites; and Chinese companies are thought to be planning to launch thousands more. Other commercial companies are beginning to think about the advantages of working in space - manufacturers, energy companies- all are planning to put more objects and more metal into space.
So is low Earth orbit - at around 2000 kilometres or less from the ground about to become dangerously congested?
This picture is further complicated by the presence of objects that we cannot control and never intended to have circling around the planet. Space debris - bits of old rockets that have been jettisoned, old satellites that no longer function, fragments of metal- even a glove that was lost during a space walk.
What happens if some of this space junk hits one of the thousands of satellites orbiting the earth? Could this set off a terrifying chain reaction that could hinder future space missions and make satellite communication vastly more difficult? Could our ability to track the weather, climate change, use satellite navigation and even access the internet be set back decades?
Do we also as a species need to start thinking about the implications for all that metallic pollution we are sending into space? Should we be thinking of space in the same way we think about our oceans and rainforests? Is space the next environmental frontier?
Presenter: Professor Ben Ansell Producer: Tom Gillett Sound mix: Neil Churchill Editor: Damon Rose
Contributors: Dr Samantha Lawler - Associate Professor of Astronomy, University of Regina John Crassidis - Moog Professor of Innovation, University at Buffalo Joanne Wheeler MBE - Managing Partner at Alden Legal Andrew Faiola – Commercial Director, Astroscale Ben Nowack – CEO and Co-Founder, Reflect Orbital
Material from: Space X ‘Gravity’ – Heyday Films/ Esperanto Filmoj/ Warner Bros. Pictures – Director Alfonso Cuarón CNN