UK observatory nervously watches growing space junk threat
LONDON - In the sweeping shadow of a satellite dish, staff at the Chilbolton Observatory in southern England track a growing number of objects in Earth's…
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LONDON - In the sweeping shadow of a satellite dish, staff at the Chilbolton Observatory in southern England track a growing number of objects in Earth's orbit, providing data that underpins Britain's space monitoring efforts.
As the hulking antenna swivels into action, screens inside the control room light up with the names of objects the radar system detects: stars, satellites and abandoned rocket bodies.
Experts at Chilbolton Observatory, operated by the UK's national space laboratory RAL Space, monitor UK-licenced satellites and fast-multiplying fragments of space debris swirling around them.
The space junk includes defunct man-made objects like rocket bodies, dead satellites and fragments from launches, explosions and collisions that threaten to re-enter Earth's atmosphere or crash into functioning satellites.
According to the European Space Agency, there are more than 46,000 pieces of debris weighing a total of 17,000 tonnes currently in orbit.
"Most of those don't collide with anything, most of the time," Matthew Archer, deputy director for launch and space domain awareness at the UK Space Agency told AFP on a visit to the observatory.
"But any of them can cause significant damage or even destroy potential satellites."
On Wednesday, part of a SpaceX rocket about the size of a bus slammed into the Moon, unleashing a stream of debris. Researchers warn the growing density of space junk could trigger the so-called "Kessler syndrome" cascade of collisions.
Chilbolton Observatory feeds data to the National Space Operations Centre (NSpOC) -- led by the UK Space Agency and UK Space Command -- that works around the clock to prevent orbital collisions and track debris re-entering Earth's atmosphere.
"Our role is to look at everything that happens and is in space," said Archer.
Space infrastructure underpins some 20 percent of the UK economy, said Archer. The growing "number of objects is making space far more congested, so the need for this capability is growing all the time."
As he speaks, multiple Starlink devices -- part of the constellation of thousands of internet satellites launched by US tycoon Elon Musk's SpaceX -- float by on the control room screens.
There are currently 14,000 satellites orbiting Earth, with some 1.7 million satellites planned in coming years. SpaceX alone has unveiled plans to begin launching more than one million satellites in 2028.
The UK has pledged to invest £85 million ($114 million) in the NSpOC, which issues around 3,000 monthly collision warnings to satellite operators.
The researchers also monitor to ensure satellite operators are complying with their licences and track foreign "adversaries".
"We see examples of countries that have demonstrated the ability to get close or to fly by certain objects," said Archer. "We do have to track ... threats regularly from a military perspective."
And when space debris re-enters the atmosphere, scientists are on stand-by to issue alerts for objects which may…