A satellite collision with dramatic consequences is now inevitable

50,000. That’s the number of collision avoidance maneuvers SpaceX had to perform for its satellite fleet in just three months. This illustrates a growing problem: the number of satellites orbiting the Earth raises fears of numerous collisions, especially if space agencies continue to send them, alerte Science Focus.

Much of our telecommunications and online browsing now comes from space, which explains the increase in the number of satellites in orbit. According to Andy Lawrence, professor of astronomy at the University of Edinburgh, the problem is similar to that of global warming: scientists know that it is gradually getting worse, but it remains difficult to know how to stop it. .

Disaster scenario on the horizon

Currently, there are more than 13,000 satellites in orbit, of which around 10,000 are functional. The risk of collision has never been higher. To make a complete revolution of the Earth, a satellite must move at a minimum speed of 7.8 kilometers per second (km/s). At this speed, collisions would release an impressive amount of energy. Affected spacecraft would be blown to smithereens, causing large clouds of debris that could destroy other satellites.

Such collisions have happened before. In 2009, “the working American satellite Iridium 33 and the inoperative Russian satellite Cosmos 2251 collided at a speed of 11.7 km/s”reports the media. This collision alone caused more than 2,000 pieces of debris, which are now moving through space.

Lawrence does not believe a single catastrophic event will occur; he claims that one day a collision could destroy something important to the entire world. The increase in the number of satellites “is due to companies looking to set up space-based internet services”underlines Science Focus. To provide acceptable response times, the satellites are placed in low Earth orbit, where they circle the world every ninety minutes. Jonathan McDowell, astrophysicist at Harvard, recently worried: “I fear we are at the edge of what is safe.”