StarLink is planning to send 42K satellites into space. That could be bad news for ozone

Satellites like those used Starlink Internet Services Research funded by NASA shows that when they desert, it could deplete the Earth’s ozone layer Featured in Geophysical Research Books June. 2024.

When Starlink’s satellites reach the end of their lives, they burn out in the Earth’s atmosphere, leaving behind small particles of aluminum oxide behind. These move into the ozone layer, which absorbs harmful UV rays. Researchers at the University of Southern California found that these oxides had increased eightfold between 2016 and 2022.

Not all of this is caused by StarLink – the internet provider didn’t launch its first satellite until May 2019 – but it now has the largest fleet. Of the approximately 10,000 active objects in low Earth orbit, over 7,750 belong to Starlink, According to the data Collected by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who tracks satellite launches. The company is currently authorized to launch 12,000 satellites, with plans for as much as 42,000 in the future. According to Space.com.

These satellites are designed to last for about five years. The 550-pound satellite releases approximately 66 pounds of aluminum oxide nanoparticles during re-entry. Starlink satellites become heavier over time, with the latest version weighing around 2,760 pounds.

Aluminum is mainly released between 30 and 50 miles from the surface of the earth, but drifts down to the ozone layer, taking about 30 years. We’re already seeing these effects – the burning satellites in 2022 outweighed the natural level of a 29.5% increase in atmospheric aluminum, but researchers said it would only make it worse.

“This is primarily concerns about the launch of a large number of satellites in the future,” Joseph Wang, one of the research authors, told CNET. “We have predicted over 640% of annual excesses than natural levels. Based on that projection, we are very concerned.”

Unlike other substances that deplete ozone, aluminum oxide particles are not consumed in the process, the researchers said. They continue to damage the ozone layer until they naturally descend to a low altitude, and can take about 30 years.

If you expand as Starlink wants, more than 8,000 satellites could burn out into the atmosphere each year. The researchers applied predictive models to explain the increasing number of satellites in the sky, and found that the amount of aluminum can be 360 ​​metric tons, or 640% above natural levels.

Starlink led exponential growth of satellites in the sky

The most unsettling thing about this new study is that it is still an unknown territory. “The environmental impact of satellite re-entry is currently poorly understood,” the study states.

In the four years since Starlink is launching satellites, it is 40% of all satellites Until now It has been released and plans to increase the fleet seven times. Project Kuiper from Amazon, Starlink’s main competitor, is set to launch 3,232 satellites For the next few years.

An article published in Nature determined that 100,000 satellites in the sky were “very likely, not merely viable.” This is almost entirely because private companies such as SpaceX, Amazon, and OneWeb are launching satellites to provide high-speed internet.

According to the EPA, Excessive UV rays can lead to reduced yield and destruction of the crops of the marine food chain, cataracts, weakening of the immune system.

“As reentry rates rise, it is important to further explore the concerns highlighted in this study,” the researchers say.

Starlink did not respond to CNET’s request for comment.