SPACE SAFETYSatellites and Space Trash Threaten the Ozone Layer and Space Safety
Every year, we shoot several thousand satellites and other objects out into space. When satellites die, they become space trash that threatens aerospace safety.
Outer space has a trash problem.
“And the problem is only going to get bigger and bigger,” says Rannveig Færgestad.
Færgestad studies aerospace technology at NTNU’s Department of Structural Engineering. In her PhD, she has developed computer models that show what happens when pieces of space debris collide with spacecraft. With an average speed of 7 kilometers per second, even a tiny piece of junk can cause a lot of damage.
Rocket Debris and Satellites
Space trash consists of rocket remnants, fuel and whole or parts of defunct satellites. Much of this debris moves through the low Earth orbits below 2000 kilometers in altitude, or is on its way down into the atmosphere. This debris burns up in the layer of air surrounding the planet because air resistance creates intense friction.
All spacecraft that carries humans are covered with various types of protective shielding. Færgestad is conducting research on these kinds of shields in order to make them as safe as possible.
Greatest Threat
One of her supervisors is former astronaut Kevin Anthony Ford from NASA (the National Aeronautics and Space Administration). He has completed three space missions and has served as commander of the International Space Station (ISS). He is now part of a team of advisors who continuously assess the safety situation for the ISS.
“The team now says that space trash is the greatest risk,” said Færgestad.
A Tenfold Increase
More than 20,000 objects have been launched into space since the Russian Sputnik 1 satellite kicked things off on 4 October, 1957. That amounts to 50 thousand tons. Some of the debris has returned to Earth, but according to the European Space Agency (ESA), 10,000 tons are still floating around in orbit.
In the summer of 2025, there were more than 14,000 active or derelict satellites orbiting the Earth. On average, an uncontrolled object crashes somewhere on Earth once a week.
According to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, almost 2900 satellites, space probes and other objects were launched in 2024. That is more than ten times as many as a decade ago.
