As of: February 29, 2024, 11:09 a.m
By: Tanja Banner
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A satellite orbits the earth.
(Symbolic image) © IMAGO/Zoonar.com/Cigdem Simsek
A near-miss in orbit could have increased the number of debris in Earth's orbit by 50 percent.
The satellites narrowly escaped.
Munich – Although satellites can hardly be seen on earth, they make a significant contribution to improving our lives.
According to the European Space Agency Esa, there are around 11,500 satellites orbiting our planet, of which around 9,000 are still functional.
A catastrophic collision between two of these satellites almost occurred on Wednesday (February 28).
The two satellites that almost collided were the NASA satellite “TIMED” and the Russian “Kosmos 2221”.
According to a statement on NASA's website, the two satellites "passed safely in orbit" at 7:34 a.m. (CET) on Wednesday morning.
At first glance, this may sound harmless, but a series of posts from satellite monitoring company Leo Labs on X (formerly Twitter) illustrate how risky this incident actually was.
Unable to maneuver satellites came within 20 meters of each other
The decommissioned Russian satellite and the active NASA satellite, both of which are not maneuverable, only missed each other by about 20 meters, Leo Labs said.
The company added: “Closer than we would like.” This is a rare occurrence; in the last two years there have only been six events with a distance of less than 20 meters between two intact but unmaneuverable objects.
A collision between the Russian and NASA satellites “could have been dangerous,” the company warns, explaining: “Our analysis shows that a collision would have resulted in 2,000 to 7,000 cataloged fragments.” Currently in low Earth orbit (LEO) about 12,000 fragments.
“This one incident could have added 50 percent more debris.” The two non-maneuverable satellites met at an altitude of 608 kilometers above Earth.
Space debris poses a threat to satellites in Earth orbit
More space debris in Earth orbit would increase the risk of collisions for other satellites, especially those in lower orbits used by large constellations such as the “Starlink” internet satellites or human spaceflight (such as the International Space Station).
Due to the high speeds at which objects move in Earth's orbit, even small particles can cause significant damage.
The ISS, for example, moves through space at a speed of around 28,000 kilometers per hour - even a small impact can have major consequences.
However, NASA expresses its confidence that there will be no more dangerous encounters between the two satellites in the future: “Although the two non-maneuverable satellites will approach each other again, this was their closest flyby within the framework of the current orbit determination, as they are gradually moving closer together distance from each other in height,” according to the statement.
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Esa recently made headlines with the crash of a decommissioned satellite.
ERS-2 crashed uncontrollably and burned up in Earth's atmosphere.
The space agency previously managed to control the crash of the “Aeolus” satellite.
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