Hundreds of thousands of pieces of debris floating around in Earth’s orbit, known as “Space junk”, could propel the world into serious conflict, Russian scientists have warned.
“This stuff represents a “special political danger” and “may provoke political or even armed conflict between space-faring nations,” explains Vitaly Adushkin of the Russian Academy of Sciences in the journal Astra Astronautica.
Space junk consists of discarded and leftover fragments of man-made objects, such as spent rockets, old satellites, and broken pieces from collisions. It is estimated that there are millions of such fragments, and over 500,000 that are so small they cannot be detected.
Nasa warns, that because these objects are travelling at speeds upto 17,500 mph (28,000 kmph), the minutest fragment has the potential to cause serious damage. “Even tiny paint flecks can damage a spacecraft when travelling at these velocities” said a Nasa spokesperson.
A depiction of space junk around the Earth. (Courtesy: Universe Today)
The fear of accidental damage to modern space hardware is real. Many nations operate many surveillance satellites in the Earth’s atmosphere. If debris comes into contact with and damages these satellites, misunderstandings could well result in armed conflict. “The owner of the impacted and destroyed satellite can hardly quickly determine the real cause of the accident” continued Adushkin.
Space has always been the subject of rivalry between nations. However, this has often been for propaganda value. During the Cold War, the well-publicised ‘Space Race’ between the United States and the Soviet Union was driven by the wish to assert which was the ‘superior’ or ‘dominant’ civilisation, the capitalist West, or communist East.
The 21st century has seen a new age of space exploration get underway, driven by technological progress, economics and Man’s insatiable curiosity, but will this too turn into a “Space Race”. Adushkin states that over the past few decades, defence satellite machinery has often failed, and the reasons have been unexplained. With the two likely scenarios being a collision with space debris, or an attack by a hostile country, it may be difficult for countries to immediately determine which was responsible. “This is a politically dangerous dilemma,” Adushkin stated.
There is also a perverse opportunity for an aggressor to blame circulating space debris for an attack to knock out a rival’s surveillance equipment. With the secrecy and competition that surrounds the 21st Century space exploration, cynics will find it harder to accept benign explanations for satellite failure.
