Starlink plans to send 42 km satellite to space. This may be bad news for ozone

Satellites such as those used Starlink internet service The ozone layer of the Earth can be exhausted when it is wet, according to a NASA study and It was published in geophysical search messages In June. 2024.

When the Starlenk Swellenk reaches the end of their lives, it burns in the Earth’s atmosphere and left behind small molecules of aluminum oxide. These are transmitted to the ozone layer, which absorbs harmful UV rays. Researchers from the University of Southern California found that these oxides increased eight times from 2016 to 2022.

Not all resulting from Starlink – the Internet provider has not released its first industrial moon until May 2019 – but it currently has a largely largest fleet. Of about 10,000 active being in the low Earth orbit, more than 7,750 belongs to Starlink, According to the data Jonathan McDawell, an astronomical physicist who tracks satellite launch. The company currently has permission to launch 12,000 satellites and has up to 42,000 planners in the future, According to the space site.

These satellites are designed to last for about five years. The satellite will launch 550 lbs about 66 lbs of aluminum oxide particles while re -entering. Starlink mocks have become heavily over time, as the last version weight is about 2760 lbs.

Aluminum will be mostly fired between 30 and 50 miles above the surface of the earth, but it will be scraped to the ozone layer, which will take about 30 years. We already see these effects – the satellites that burn in 2022 caused an increase of 29.5 % of aluminum in the atmosphere above the normal level – but researchers said they would get worse.

“This is primarily a concern for the large number of satellites that will be launched in the future,” Joseph Wang, one of the authors of the study, told CNET. “We expected an annual surplus of more than 640 % from the normal level. Based on this drop, we are very concerned.”

Unlike other substances that exhaust ozone, aluminum oxide molecules are not consumed in this process. They continue to harm the ozone layer until they naturally come down to low altitudes, which may take about 30 years.

If Starlink is lifted as you hope, more than 8,000 satellites can burn in the air every year. The researchers applied a model for predicting the increasing number of satellites in the sky and found that the amount of aluminum can grow to 360 metric tons – or 640 % higher than normal levels.

Starlink led a huge growth of satellites in the sky

What is the most disturbing in this new research is how much the unknown region is still. The study says, “Environmental effects of satellites are currently incomprehensible,” the study says.

In the four years launched by Starlink satellites, they represent 40 % of all satellites never She was launched, plans to increase her fleet seven times. Starlink main rival, Amazon’s Kuiper project, plans to launch 3,232 satellites In the coming years.

An article published in Nature decided that 100,000 satellites in the sky “not only possible but it is very likely.” This is almost fully due to private companies such as Spacex, Amazon and Oneweb that launches satellites to provide a high -speed internet.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, Ourological ultraviolet radiation can lead to skin cancer, eye lens and weak immune systems, as well as a decrease in crops and disorders in the seafood chain.

“With the increase in re -entry rates, it is important to explore the concerns that are highlighted in this study,” the researchers say.

Starlink did not respond to the CNET request for comment.