Metals from Rockets and Satellites Are Polluting Earth's Upper Atmosphere

Passant Rabie
Tue, October 17, 2023 

SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches 21 Starlink satellites to orbit on September 12.

Around 11 miles above Earth’s surface, leftover bits from rockets and spacecraft are lingering in our planet’s atmosphere that could potentially have a lasting effect on the climate.

A group of scientists flew a sensitive tool attached to the nose of a special research plane, sniffing out aerosols in the atmosphere. They found significant amounts of aluminum and exotic metals in Earth’s stratosphere, which could alter the second layer of the atmosphere, according to a new study published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The metals were found in about 10% of sulfuric acid particles, which make up the majority of particles in the stratosphere and help protect and buffer the ozone layer. The team detected more than 20 elements within ratios that match those used for spacecraft, with lithium, aluminum, copper, and lead from spacecraft reentry far exceeding metals found in natural cosmic dust.

There was a record-breaking 180 rocket launches in 2022, 44 more compared to 2021. That number is only expected to increase as the space industry continues to launch more satellites and spacecraft to Earth’s orbit and beyond. “Just to get things into orbit, you need all this fuel and a huge body to support the payload,” Cziczo said. “There are so many rockets going up and coming back and so many satellites falling back through the atmosphere that it’s starting to show up in the stratosphere as these aerosol particles.”

The stratosphere is home to the ozone layer, which absorbs a portion of the Sun’s radiation before it reaches Earth’s surface. The ozone layer protects all living things on Earth and, without it, life would have likely never existed on this planet.

“Changes to the atmosphere can be difficult to study and complex to understand,” Cziczo said. “But what this research shows us is that the impact of human occupation and human spaceflight on the planet may be significant—perhaps more significant than we have yet imagined. Understanding our planet is one of the most urgent research priorities there is.”

FAA Says Starlink Satellites Could Kill People, SpaceX Shoots Back

Bradley Brownell
Mon, October 16, 2023


SpaceX launched its first batch of 60 Starlink satellites back in 2019 in an attempt to bring high speed internet and cell phone coverage to the world. As of this August there were more than 5,000 such satellites in low-earth orbit. This system of space junk has made things difficult for astronomers, and according to a recent report from the FAA, could soon kill humans here on earth.

This report, compiled in conjunction with nonprofit group The Aerospace Corporation, suggests that by 2035 orbit decay will cause enough satellites to re-enter earth’s atmosphere that some will make it to the planet’s surface and potentially injure or kill people. “if the expected large constellation growth is realized and debris from Starlink satellites survive reentry … one person on the planet would be expected to be injured or killed every two years.”

“With the thousands of satellites expected to reenter, even a small amount of debris can impose a significant risk over time.”

With the FAA taking the conservative approach, and SpaceX moving fast and (potentially) breaking lots of things, it’s possible the true answer is somewhere in between. With SpaceX planning to grow its connected satellite barrage to some 12,000 units in the future, is it possible we’ll have to spend our days worrying about getting blasted from the skies? Statistically probably not, but don’t be surprised if you stumble across a hole with a smoking hunk of SpaceX in it. If you touch it, maybe you’ll get super powers.