Azernews.Az

By Alimat Aliyeva

American scientists from the University of Southern California have concluded that space debris can destroy the Earth's ozone layer, Azernews reports.

Experts have studied the relationship between space debris and the state of the Earth's ozone layer, which protects life on the planet from solar ultraviolet radiation.

The analysis showed that the concentration of oxides that occur when debris from decommissioned old spacecraft burns in the Earth's atmosphere and destroys stratospheric ozone increased eight times between 2016 and 2022 and will continue to increase as new satellites are launched into low Earth orbit (LEO). The situation is aggravated by the fact that Internet communication satellites are short-lived, they serve for about five years.

According to the researchers, by the time the currently planned satellite groupings are completed, 912 tons of aluminum will fall to Earth each year. This will result in the release into the atmosphere of about 360 metric tons of aluminum oxides per year, which is 646% more than the natural level.

Of the 8.1 thousand operating vehicles in low Earth orbit, 6 thousand are Starlink satellites launched in recent years. The Starlink operator, SpaceX, has received permission to launch another 12 thousand satellites and plans to launch 42 thousand new devices on LEO in the future. Amazon and other companies around the world intend to create groupings of 3 thousand to 13 thousand satellites.

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