Satellites are polluting the stratosphere

In January, over a hundred telecommunications satellites disintegrated in Earth’s atmosphere, vaporizing as they fell toward the planet at speeds of about eight kilometers per second. These controlled reentries are designed to prevent defunct satellites from cluttering valuable orbital space or crashing uncontrollably. Since 2022, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has required all telecommunications satellites to leave orbit within five years to reduce space debris, with similar regulations in place elsewhere.

However, this “planned demise” has unintended consequences. As they burn up, satellites release metal particles—such as aluminum, copper, lithium, and niobium—into the stratosphere, the atmospheric layer between 10 and 50 kilometers above Earth’s surface.

Here’s the article as published in Internazionale.

Originally published in The Economist.