What To Know
- In a recent study, American researchers warned of the risks that the disintegration of thousands of Starlink satellites could pose to the ozone layer.
- Since then, the ozonosphere has been strengthening to the point that its hole is shrinking a little more each year and could even to close in about fifty years.
- Researchers from the Department of Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southern California (USA) have published a study on the subject, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters June 11, 2024.
In a recent study, American researchers warned of the risks that the disintegration of thousands of Starlink satellites could pose to the ozone layer. The situation is all the more worrying since SpaceX plans to eventually launch several tens of thousands of new vehicles into low orbit.
A potential new challenge for the ozone layer
First of all, let us recall that the ozone layer is very important because it protects the Earth from most dangerous UV rays. However, it was badly damaged before the ban on chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases in the 1980s. Since then, the ozonosphere has been strengthening to the point that its hole is shrinking a little more each year and could even to close in about fifty years. What if Starlink satellites could represent a new challenge to face for the ozone layer? Researchers from the Department of Astronautical Engineering at the University of Southern California (USA) have published a study on the subject, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters June 11, 2024. First, the researchers recalled that at this very moment, low Earth orbit contains more than 8,000 satellites, including 6,000 belonging to SpaceX’s Starlink project. However, Elon Musk‘s firm plans to launch 42,000 additional vehicles in the years to come.
Credits: johan63 / istock
Highly destructive chemical reactions
The problem is that these satellites contain large quantities of aluminum and that their lifespan is short (only about five years). However, when satellites fall back into the Earth’s atmosphere to burn up, they release aluminum oxide. According to American scientists, this substance can then generate highly destructive chemical reactions for ozone. Unfortunately, the phenomenon could wipe out the remission of the ozonosphere.
“The oxides do not react chemically with ozone molecules, but trigger destructive reactions between ozone and chlorine that deplete the ozone layer. Because aluminum oxides are not consumed by these chemical reactions, they can continue to destroy molecule after molecule of ozone for decades as they drift through the stratosphere.”the researchers said. in a press releaseThe study states that between 2016 and 2022, the presence of aluminum oxide increased eightfold. What’s more, no less than 18.7 tonnes of this substance were sprayed into the upper atmosphere in 2022 alone. In addition to the upcoming Starlink satellites, other players are also trying to invest in the marketnamely Amazon (Kuiper project), OneWeb (O3b Networks project) and, more recently, Chinese company Hongqing Technology (Honghu-3 project). According to the researchers of the study, the amount of aluminum oxide pulverized could thus eventually reach 400 tonnes per year.
