Space launches are ‘profoundly’ polluting Earth’s atmosphere

Without a sit-rep of the stratosphere’s overall condition, it’s concerning to think that an estimated 58,000 more satellites may reach orbit in just the next seven years. Scientists aren’t keen to put their hat on any exact consequences, but the term ‘profound’ is being tossed around.

Should these industry projections materialise, the next few decades could see half the stratosphere’s sulfuric acid particles corrupted by metals from re-entry. How stable the seemingly serene layer of our atmosphere would be then, nobody quite knows.

‘Changes to the atmosphere can be difficult to study and complex to understand,’ explains NASA research member Dan Cziczo.

‘What this research shows us is that the impact of human occupation and human spaceflight on the planet may be significant – perhaps more significant than we have yet imagined.’

While spacecraft launches and returns were once stories of global significance, front page exposure for the likes of ‘Sputnik’ and ‘Sojourner’ have now given way to a tide of corporations keen to exploit space for commercial gain, unbeknownst to most of us.

Tech tycoons like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Richard Branson have already launched tens of thousands of satellites in recent years to build individual networks for the next stage of internet connectivity.

All the while, dead satellites and spacecraft debris is left to linger like the remains of a ship wreckage on the ocean floor. Low orbit space is incredibly cluttered, and the US has only recently issued its first ever fine for failing to dispose of a redundant project.

Establishing some form of order to the space race will be a tricky task – as the UN has already discovered – but understanding our impacts on the planet should unequivocally take priority.