We begin our January 2024 editorial by wishing our readers a Happy New Year 2024!
The year 2023 witnessed incredible feats in space technology for both India and the world. The success of the Chandrayaan-3 has established India firmly in the realm of space endeavours. And the debut flight of Virgin Galactic to the edge of space marked the beginning of space tourism. Space X’s starship is stretching its wings towards interplanetary space travel.
These explorations will unlock immense opportunities for the human kind and eventually aid in achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs). Space programs are attracting new innovations and investments.
However, when we look at it from the perspective of the Earth, space exploration raises sustainability concerns. From launching a rocket to its end life, space exploration takes its toll on our planet.
Researchers have found that emissions during the rocket launch directly impact the stratospheric ozone (O3). Moreover, the black carbon (BC) or soot from rockets warms the atmosphere rapidly.
Today, scientists estimate that more than 100 trillion pieces of space junk are drifting through space.Most alarmingly, the looming threat of increasing space junk or space debris is baffling the scientific community.
Recently, studies have determined the relation between climate change and space debris. It is found that the increased concentration of greenhouse gases reduces atmospheric drag. This leads to increased orbital lifetimes of satellites and thereby accumulating more space debris.
These debris can collide with other active satellites. This can create a chain of damage or failures termed as the Kessler syndrome. Occurrence of such events hamper the day-to-day activities like communication, banking, etc.
In the years to come, more satellites and expeditions will be sent forth to space. These explorations can contribute to the advancement of humanity. Space is the final frontier for humanity and we need to manage the space debris issue before it spins out of hand. At The Ecopreneur India, we want to be among the first to raise our voices on this issue of Green Recovery in the space sector too.
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featured photo credit: Photo by Monstera Production: https://www.pexels.com/photo/vector-illustration-of-cheerful-man-in-flying-rocket-6289027/
