pace is often seen as a faraway void, so remote from society’s concerns that any investment in it may seem to only serve the eccentricities of billionaires. However, the reality is quite the opposite. For example, Starlink satellites, delivering internet service to multitudes of individuals, is not any physically farther from society than the island of Tristan Da Cunha located in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Starlink satellites are five times closer to any point on the ground than Tristan Da Cunha is to the nearest country.
Technologies created to explore space have improved life on Earth for decades, whether it be through communicating from one side of the globe to the other, forecasting the weather, or monitoring the occurrence of natural disasters amongst a plethora of other innovations. Additionally, in today’s society, the same technologies are increasingly used to support activities against climate change and to mitigate its effects.
For instance, satellite data can monitor the distributions of salinity in the ocean or map the evolution of coastlines as time progresses. Even more surprising, during COP27, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presented its astrobotany activities in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Together, they announced that they have sent seeds aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in order to develop “crops able to adapt to the ravages of climate change” and thereby ensure food security.
But benefits never come without drawbacks. While space activities are increasingly regulated, their full environmental impact has only recently started to gain the attention of international fora. Tens of thousands of rockets have been launched since the beginning of humanity’s journey into space, with 8,500 rockets launched by NASA alone. In fact, successful and unsuccessful launches, combined with a wide range of trial runs, have produced a fair share of pollution in space and throughout the different atmospheric layers, including the ozone layer. Worse, from the 14,700 satellites launched, around 10,500 tons of human-made objects and space debris have been detected in our planet’s orbit. Those that do not remain in orbit end up re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and landing in the sea, never to be cleaned up. A number of countries, including the United States, India, Russia, and China, are also carrying what are called anti-satellite (ASAT) tests seeking to physically and kinetically destroy existing satellites. For instance, a test carried out by China in 2007 “increased trackable space object population[s] by 25 percent.” Similarly, one test carried out by Russia found at least 1,500 trackable fragments.
Similar to the concept of digital twins, there is the concept of “equally environmentally-threatened sisters”, such as the Earth and its outer atmosphere. Indeed, humans have crossed the final frontier thanks to their desire to conquer space, but unfortunately, it seems that the colonial spirit to disregard “exotic” biomes has followed. Even more concerning, the potential catastrophe of a chain collision in the congested space of earth’s outer atmosphere and beyond is one critical issue amongst others. In this regard, cleaning Earth’s outer atmosphere is just as pressing as cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
In an attempt to address some of these issues, the UN has published the Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines, a set of non-binding recommendations to guide the conduct of States in their space endeavors. Although this is a good first step, one core part has been skipped–space is still seen as being separate from the Earth. There is Earth and there is space. However, it is important when we are talking about the environment, we should include our near-Earth space environment. Likewise, when we are talking about taking measures to save the environment, this should include the atmosphere and what is floating around our planet. We are a part of space, and since we are all made of stardust, space is a part of us. It is only when this narrative becomes embedded into broader climate discussions will climate policies and other initiatives deliver their full impact, because any climate policy that is wide enough to encompass land, air and sea, is wide enough to include space. Ultimately, there should be a reciprocal effort made on the part of the space community to reach out to climate actors, as well as from space policymakers to work as trailblazers in asserting that the environment does not stop at 100 kilometers–and neither should climate measures.
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Reassessing Earth's Place in Space
March 7, 2023
Space seems far away but technology brings it closer and closer-and the environmental impacts of our activities in space are also starting to hit closer to home. Cleaning Earth's outer atmosphere is just as important as cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, writes Lauren Lee Hallet.
S
pace is often seen as a faraway void, so remote from society’s concerns that any investment in it may seem to only serve the eccentricities of billionaires. However, the reality is quite the opposite. For example, Starlink satellites, delivering internet service to multitudes of individuals, is not any physically farther from society than the island of Tristan Da Cunha located in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean. In fact, Starlink satellites are five times closer to any point on the ground than Tristan Da Cunha is to the nearest country.
Technologies created to explore space have improved life on Earth for decades, whether it be through communicating from one side of the globe to the other, forecasting the weather, or monitoring the occurrence of natural disasters amongst a plethora of other innovations. Additionally, in today’s society, the same technologies are increasingly used to support activities against climate change and to mitigate its effects.
For instance, satellite data can monitor the distributions of salinity in the ocean or map the evolution of coastlines as time progresses. Even more surprising, during COP27, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) presented its astrobotany activities in conjunction with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Together, they announced that they have sent seeds aboard the International Space Station (ISS) in order to develop “crops able to adapt to the ravages of climate change” and thereby ensure food security.
But benefits never come without drawbacks. While space activities are increasingly regulated, their full environmental impact has only recently started to gain the attention of international fora. Tens of thousands of rockets have been launched since the beginning of humanity’s journey into space, with 8,500 rockets launched by NASA alone. In fact, successful and unsuccessful launches, combined with a wide range of trial runs, have produced a fair share of pollution in space and throughout the different atmospheric layers, including the ozone layer. Worse, from the 14,700 satellites launched, around 10,500 tons of human-made objects and space debris have been detected in our planet’s orbit. Those that do not remain in orbit end up re-entering Earth’s atmosphere and landing in the sea, never to be cleaned up. A number of countries, including the United States, India, Russia, and China, are also carrying what are called anti-satellite (ASAT) tests seeking to physically and kinetically destroy existing satellites. For instance, a test carried out by China in 2007 “increased trackable space object population[s] by 25 percent.” Similarly, one test carried out by Russia found at least 1,500 trackable fragments.
Similar to the concept of digital twins, there is the concept of “equally environmentally-threatened sisters”, such as the Earth and its outer atmosphere. Indeed, humans have crossed the final frontier thanks to their desire to conquer space, but unfortunately, it seems that the colonial spirit to disregard “exotic” biomes has followed. Even more concerning, the potential catastrophe of a chain collision in the congested space of earth’s outer atmosphere and beyond is one critical issue amongst others. In this regard, cleaning Earth’s outer atmosphere is just as pressing as cleaning the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
In an attempt to address some of these issues, the UN has published the Long-Term Sustainability Guidelines, a set of non-binding recommendations to guide the conduct of States in their space endeavors. Although this is a good first step, one core part has been skipped–space is still seen as being separate from the Earth. There is Earth and there is space. However, it is important when we are talking about the environment, we should include our near-Earth space environment. Likewise, when we are talking about taking measures to save the environment, this should include the atmosphere and what is floating around our planet. We are a part of space, and since we are all made of stardust, space is a part of us. It is only when this narrative becomes embedded into broader climate discussions will climate policies and other initiatives deliver their full impact, because any climate policy that is wide enough to encompass land, air and sea, is wide enough to include space. Ultimately, there should be a reciprocal effort made on the part of the space community to reach out to climate actors, as well as from space policymakers to work as trailblazers in asserting that the environment does not stop at 100 kilometers–and neither should climate measures.
