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The increasing volume of space debris accumulated in Earth's orbit could prevent sunlight from reaching us, darkening the sky, warn Russian scientists in a new study.
Space pollution also increases the risk of collision between space debris and spacecraft, which could trigger the so-called Kessler syndrome – a scenario describing a chain reaction of debris explosion, which could overwhelm orbit ground and make space exploration impossible. It would also threaten GPS, television signals and other satellite-dependent communications.
Although the current amount of debris does not pose a threat to the solar flux, the situation could quickly change if a chain reaction of space debris collisions occurred, according to the Moscow Institute study on the dynamics of the geosphere.
Currently, about 22,300 objects of different sizes, weighing more than 8,400 tonnes, gravitate around the Earth, according to data from the Space Debris Office of the European Space Agency. About 1,950 spacecraft are operational, but the remainder are by-products of thousands of routine launches and deployments of spacecraft, nearly 200 explosions and several collisions.
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