Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
Gerhard Drolshagen works at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. He has published papers about the effects of meteoroid material on Earth. He said in an interview that reentering satellites usually evaporate at altitudes from fifty-five miles to thirty miles. This is just above the ozone rich stratosphere. However, the particles generated by the burning satellites will eventually sink to the lower layers including the ozone layer.
Boyey said that as particles of aluminum oxide sink into the stratosphere, they will cause chemical reactions which are likely to trigger ozone destruction. Drolshagen agreed that because “satellites are mostly made of aluminum, the amount of aluminum deposited in the atmosphere will certainly increase.”
The U.S. telecommunications operator Viasat has expressed concerns about the effects of aluminum oxides on the atmosphere in a request to the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to suspend launches of SpaceX Starlink satellites until a proper environmental review of its possible impacts is conducted.
In the research carried out by Boley and their team, they only reviewed the effects of the first generation of the Starlink mega-constellation of satellites. More than one thousand seven hundred of the planned twelve thousand satellites have been launched so far. Low Earth orbit (LEO) is the region of space below an altitude of six hundred and twenty miles. As a result of the Starlink launches of SpaceX and other satellite constellations launches, the number of active and inactive satellites in LEO has increased by fifty percent in the last two years.
Boley said, “The problem is that there are now plans to launch about 55,000 satellites. Starlink second generation could consist of up to 30,000 satellites, then you have Starnet, which is China's response to Starlink, Amazon's Kuiper, OneWeb. That could lead to unprecedented changes to the Earth’s upper atmosphere.”
Operators of mega-constellations are inspired by the consumer technology model. They expect fast development of new satellites and frequent replacement of existing satellites. This will result in a high number of satellites burning up in the atmosphere on a daily basis.
Boley said, "Humans are exceptionally good at underestimating our ability to change the environment. There is this perception that there is no way that we can dump enough plastic into the ocean to make a difference. There is no way we can dump enough carbon into the atmosphere to make a difference. But here we are. We have a plastic pollution problem with the ocean, we have climate change ongoing as a result of our actions and our changing of the composition of the atmosphere and we are poised to make the same type of mistake by our use of space.”
Mega-constellations cause great concern in the space industry as they also increase the dangers of orbital collisions in the already cluttered orbital environment.
SpaceX Starlink has also been singled out because of the effects that the visible trains of their satellites have on astronomical observations. SpaceX has pledged to cooperate with the astronomical community and change the design of their satellites to ameliorate the problem. However, earlier this year, the International Astronomical Union asked a specialized committee of the U.N to protect the pristine night sky against light pollution from mega-constellations.
Stephane Israel is the chief of European launch provider Ariane Space. Last week, he accused SpaceX owner Elon Musk of monopolizing space and squeezing out competitors. SpaceX has not responded to questions about the charges.