Could Space Junk Put Air Travel at Risk?

Could Space Junk Put Air Travel at Risk?

A growing number of airlines are teaming up with satellite internet providers like Starlink and Project Kuiper to make it easier for passengers to use wifi. In that way, at least, the rapid proliferation of low Earth orbit satellites is a positive for air travel. But the net effect may be negative, due to one major risk: falling space junk.Last January, the journal Scientific Reports published a paper that looked into the issue of orbital debris…

Risk of falling space junk hitting airplanes is on the rise, experts warn

Baku, Jan 6: Once a week, on average, a spacecraft (or part of one) falls back into Earth's atmosphere; most of these objects are empty rocket stages, but some are dead satellites whose low orbits finally decayed enough for them to slip into the atmosphere, according to Space.com. They’re basically like human-made meteors, but most of them don’t survive long. This is because of the heat and shredding force that come with high-speed collisions wi…