Trashing to Earth: Not So Empty Space
For a moment, forget the litter on the ground. We have a futuristic trash problem that’s reaching stratospheric heights. Space junk is clogging up our planet’s orbit, leaving the GPS, telecommunications, and weather forecasting technology that we take for granted at risk – not to mention the lives of astronauts.
Bringing sustainability to our intergalactic environment is the focus of the 2012 Beijing Space Sustainability Conference, to be held from November 8-9 in Beijing. The event is organized by Beihang University, the International Space University, and American think tank Secure World Foundation (SWF). We recently met up with this year’s conference organizer Brian Weeden, whoalso happens to be the current SWF technical advisor and a former US Air Force orbital tracker, and asked him about the impact of orbital litter.
Why do we need to further our research about space junk? What is the threat?
The Earth’s orbit is a pretty unique environment, and we derive a lot of benefits from it. There are about a thousand active satellites currently in orbit around the Earth providing services like weather monitoring and forecasting, climate monitoring and science, TV, phone services, broadband Internet, navigation, and natural resource management. There’s also the science we get from satellites that are used to study the universe, such as the Hubble Space Telescope, as well as the activities on the International Space Station. Finally, satellites and space-based applications play a big role in many national security areas.
The concern is that as more countries launch and operate satellites to take advantage of all these benefits, increased congestion might jeopardize the long-term sustainability of key parts of our orbit and our ability to get all these benefits in the future.
What can the Space Sustainability Conference do to help combat this issue?
The purpose of this conference is to discuss several elements of the long-term sustainability of space. Space debris is part of this, but we’re also asking questions like “How do we know what’s in orbit? How do we track all the debris?” We’ll also delve into law and policy topics, such as liability issues for accidents in space and national regulations and law, and also some discussion of responsible behavior in space.
How does China factor into the space junk conversation – is it a major orbital polluter?
It depends on who you ask. Many in America would say that China is a big polluter, and in fact its 2007 anti-satellite missile test created about 3,000 pieces of debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) and is the single biggest debris cloud in history.
However, measured by the actual amount ofspace debris, the US and Russia are responsible for more. Just how much depends on how you count. By number [of pieces] of space debris, Russia is responsible for about 38 percent, the US about 30 percent, and China about 22 percent. But counting by total mass in space, Russia has by far the most with 53 percent, the US with 19 percent, and China only 4 percent.
This is because the US and Russia have been operating in space for nearly 50 years and over that time have launched a lot of satellites, and generated a lot of debris. By contrast, China is a relatively new player and doesn’t have as many satellites.
However, China is rapidly developing its space capabilities and has plans to launch a lot of satellites over the coming decades. And while current launch rates are far below the Cold War peaks, in 2011 China had about the same number of space launches as the US or Russia. So we feel it is important to have China included in this conversation, so that they can be informed about the situation and so that the rest of the international community can have an opportunity to hear a Chinese perspective on these issues and what they are working on in these areas.
The 2012 Beijing Space Sustainability Conference will be held from Nov 8-9 at Beihang University. Register at http://swfound.org/events/2012/2012-beijingspace-sustainability-conference.
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Photo courtesy of NASA
