But what about being harmless, are they? Differently to AI-oriented fears, we do not see movies where satellites are indeed controlling our lives. However, we do hear about dozens, sometimes hundreds of satellites launches, either single missions or just batches being part of much bigger constellations. Although this does not seem something harmful, we are putting more and more satellites into space, and in fact thousands of satellites have been launched in the past decades.

Congestion: the problem

Space is getting more congested, and we have erroneously appropriated the Space as if it belonged to us. As we did with oceans, forests, beaches and all kind of nature and natural resources on Earth.

Analogous to throwing lots of rubbish to the sea just because there is plenty of space. This is not a comparison between satellites and rubbish, but why is a comparison like this still adequate?

Because we continue to place satellites in orbit without fully considering the consequences, Earth’s orbital “highway” is becoming increasingly congested. This harmful behavior increases the likelihood of satellite collisions, something that has already happened several times in the past and is always considered during satellite launches.

However, the problem goes beyond damage to satellites. It also affects us by polluting Earth’s orbit with space debris, creating a catastrophe similar to ocean pollution and one that is extremely difficult to counteract.
After a crash, satellites become high-speed debris orbiting Earth, capable of damaging other satellites and creating even more space junk in a chain reaction.

Let’s not resemble Pixar’s movie Wall-E opening scene, where the Earth surroundings were covered by space debris. We are not in this situation yet, but citing this is not an exaggeration, not when all space agencies are now in the need of promoting programs for “cleaning” space debris.

It is worth mentioning that, in the past years, several organizations and professionals from both public and private sectors have arisen and gained prominence because of their initiatives for cleaning space. Yes, cleaning is the correct word at this point.

Space is Nature…

… and all its elements are resources to us. Resources that make space technologies possible and from which all of us benefit every day. A lot is being done to protect and preserve natural resources on Earth —and much more is still needed to be done, that’s clear— just let’s not forget that Space is the Universe’s natural environment which Earth is part of.

This article was written from my personal perspective after reading information available online from NASA, ESA and articles from renowned engineers and scientists, all within the common study area of Space Debris Management.