2023-07-12 18:01:23
If you observe the night sky, you can see twinkling stars moving in a line. The identity of the stars moving in a row like a train is a satellite group of Star Link. Starlink is a satellite project for SpaceX’s low-orbit communication network business led by Elon Musk. It is a strategy to provide Internet services even in remote areas such as Africa by placing 40,000 satellites in low Earth orbit 550 km. that there is There are already millions of space debris floating in Earth’s orbit, including space debris such as retired satellites and fuel tanks. In 2021, the Chinese military satellite ‘Yunhai’ collided with the fragments of the Russian space launch vehicle ‘Zenit 2′ launched in 1996, and the risk is increasing. Experts warn that “if the low-orbit density reaches a limit, a chain of collisions that are difficult to control, the ‘Kessler Syndrome’, may occur and humanity may be trapped and unable to get out of the Earth.” According to data submitted to (FCC), Starlink satellites changed course more than 25,299 times to avoid collisions between December last year and May this year. Compared to 13,612 evasion maneuvers in the second half of last year, this is a nearly double increase. Hugh Lewis, a professor of astronomy at the University of Southampton in the UK, pointed out, “As the number of satellites increases, the number of evasive maneuvers is doubling every six months.” The Space Command detects objects up to 10 cm in diameter floating in space and predicts their respective paths. If an object is expected to come close to 5 km within 5 days of a particular satellite, the country or facility operating the satellite is notified immediately. However, China and Russia do not share satellite data, and satellite paths can be affected by space weather or changes in Earth’s atmospheric density, resulting in errors. Jonathan McDowell, a researcher at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, said, “I am not sure that SpaceX is properly considering even sudden collisions.” In addition to SpaceX, Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is also working on the ‘Kuiper Project’, a space internet network construction project. China is also pushing for a “Chinese version of Starlink,” which will put regarding 13,000 satellites into low-Earth orbit. In addition, countries such as the UK and Canada are jumping into space to preoccupy low-Earth orbit. ◇ “Low-Earth orbit traffic control is necessary.” The lifespan of low-orbit satellites is as short as 5 years, so most of the satellites that have reached the end of their lifespan are likely to be reduced to space debris. big. For this reason, when existing satellites are retired, related technologies are being researched, such as entering the earth’s atmosphere for processing or blowing them out of space. Research on ‘collecting satellites’ that handle space debris with steel nets, magnets, or robot arms is also active. Some argue that ‘traffic control’ between satellites is necessary to reduce the probability of collision between satellites. Benjamin Silverstein, a researcher at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said, “If orbital data from satellites in each country is collected and managed centrally, safety will be improved.”
1689194058
#Bubbly #lowEarth #orbit.. #Space #traffic #jammer #Starlink
© 2024 All rights reserved