Environment & Energy

A 2022 overview paper by Viasat paints an almost apocalyptic picture: “If a tipping point is reached, all of humanity would watch helplessly as space junk multiplies uncontrollably. Without timely intervention, we risk bringing the space age to an inglorious end, and trapping humanity on Earth under a layer of its own trash for centuries, or even millennia.”

About 40% of disused satellites burning up in Earth's atmosphere these days belong to SpaceX's Starlink megaconstellation, according to Andrew Bacon, the chief technology officer and co-founder of U.K.-based in-orbit manufacturing firm Space Forge.

That amounts to "a minimum of 500 kilograms [1,100 pounds]" of incinerated satellite trash a day, added Bacon, who presented those numbers at the workshop on Protecting Earth and Outer Space from the Disposal of Spacecraft and Debris held at the University of Southampton in the U.K. on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24.

Space junk is exponentially increasing — and Elon Musk is a big reason why
The U.S. is responsible for the lion’s share of the recent increases, largely thanks to SpaceX

It always comes back to Elon Musk. That’s right, almost all of this massive leap in space shit has been put there by the world-famous satellite and sexual harassment company SpaceX. The world’s richest man is launching thousands of satellites into space? Doesn’t that sound like a too-fake-for-real-life knockoff James Bond plot?

According to some estimates, SpaceX launches around 90 percent of all U.S. space shit, and the U.S. is responsible for over 80 percent of the world’s space shit. Of course we are. Why wouldn’t we be? In 2023 alone, SpaceX attempted 98 of the world’s 223 orbital launches, leaving behind a whole bunch of stuff in the process. The company currently has 5,420 Starlink satellites in orbit, and plans to increase that number to over 12,000 in the coming years.