- Internet satellite networks re-entering the atmosphere en masse could damage the ozone layer, the study warns.
- By far the biggest player in this field is Elon Musk’s Starlink.
- The effects could “stop the ozone success story for decades to come,” the researchers said.
A new study claims that internet satellite networks like Elon Musk’s Starlink could be contributing to ozone depletion.
Scientists from the University of Southern California’s Department of Astronautical Engineering have warned that the massive increase in low-orbit Internet satellites could lead to harmful chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
There are currently more than 8,000 Internet satellites in low orbit, of which about 6,000 are Starlink satellites, according to a press release.
All are made of large amounts of aluminum and designed with a short lifespan of about five years, he added.
The problem arises when satellites fall into Earth’s atmosphere to burn up and produce aluminum oxide, the researchers said, triggering a chemical reaction that is highly destructive to ozone.
The study, published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that the presence of oxides increased roughly eightfold between 2016 and 2022 — and could increase much more with current satellite launch plans.
SpaceX plans to launch an additional 42,000 Starlink satellites, Space.com reports. Other companies, including Amazon, plan to launch thousands more of their own, the study authors said.
Worse, the oxides are not consumed by the action, so the effect could last for decades as the particles fall, they added.
In 2022, 18.7 tons of aluminum oxide nanoparticles were released into the atmosphere by falling satellites, they said.
Looking at planned satellite launches, this could rise to as much as 397 tons per year, according to the study, and could lead to “significant depletion of the ozone layer.”
A revolution in high-speed Internet
A system of placing many small satellites in low orbit enables faster processing of larger volumes of data.
Earlier satellites performed much higher – at the cost of internet speed – but had much longer lifetimes.
Elon Musk founded SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, in 2002 and built it into one of the biggest players in the space industry.
The first launch of experimental Starlink satellites was in 2019. Launches have continued since then, creating a networked mega-constellation that has helped meet the massive demand for fast global internet access – especially in Ukraine, where the technology is vital. defense communications of the country.
Starlink’s X account said in May it served three million Internet customers in 100 countries and territories.
Stop by a rare success story
In the 1970s, it was discovered that the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, was creating a huge hole in the ozone layer.
The 1987 ban on CFCs helped slow the process, and by 2013 authorities assumed the ozone layer would repair itself within a few decades.
It was a rare success story among the bevy of global climate-related issues.
But that progress could now be halted, USC researchers said.
“Unexpected growth in aluminum oxides may put ozone success on hold in the coming decades,” they wrote.
in In 2023, observers from the European Space Agency noted that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was roughly three times the size of Brazil and was “one of the largest on record”.
At the time, the agency said it was too early to know the cause and did not mention a satellite burnout as a potential factor.
Starlink did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s after-hours request for comment.