Space travel
OHB boss: The problem with space debris has to be solved
Marco Fuchs, CEO of the space company OHB SE, advocates binding rules to solve the problem with space debris. Photo: Mohssen Assanimoghaddam / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
According to scientists, there are millions of particles in space. The head of the space company OHB is now pushing for binding rules to prevent possible dangers.
Space junk is a growing concern for satellite builders and space companies. “That is a problem,” said the chairman of the OHB space company, Marco Fuchs.
Binding rules are necessary to ensure that satellites are cleared away after their use and do not pose a threat. “The basic rules already exist,” said Fuchs, who is Vice President of the Federal Association of the German Aerospace Industry (BDLI), the German press agency. However, there is still a need for sanctions and surveillance.
It must also be prevented that “malicious” space junk is produced. «We now had the case of a deliberate shooting down by Russia. That is of course catastrophic when you pollute entire areas of space with junk to show that you can shoot satellites. “
Russia recently shot down a disused spy satellite with a special missile. The head of the Roscosmos space agency, Dmitri Rogozin, did not rule out further tests in principle. When asked by the New York Times whether Russia would shoot down more satellites, he said: “More likely no than yes.” The remains of the satellite posed no threat to the ISS.
Global challenge
Space junk is a global challenge in which all around 100 national space agencies have to ensure that the rules are adhered to, said Fuchs. In the USA, the NASA space agency and in Germany the German Aerospace Center (DLR) ensure that new satellites do not later become space junk. Small satellites, for example, could be built in such a way that they burn up in the earth’s atmosphere at the end of their useful life.
Using model calculations, scientists estimate that the earth’s orbit already contains around one million parts that are more than one centimeter in size and 330 million particles that are more than one millimeter in size.
There have been guidelines for a long time to avoid space junk – but binding contracts and national space laws are necessary, said the astrophysicist Manuel Metz from DLR. The reduction and avoidance of space junk is in the self-interest of the satellite builders and space companies, in order to enable as trouble-free operation in space as possible.
According to Metz, the so-called cascade effect poses a particular danger: if large scrap pieces, some of which are several meters in length, collide with other objects, thousands of smaller pieces of scrap can be created. Therefore, the larger objects should be removed from the orbit of the earth, if possible.