Crash clock says satellites in orbit are three days from disaster
2 days ago
- #satellites
- #collision-risk
- #space-debris
- A collision would occur in just 2.8 days if all satellites lost their ability to dodge each other, highlighting Earth’s crowded orbit.
- The number of satellites has more than tripled in the past seven years, largely due to SpaceX’s Starlink constellation.
- Satellites must constantly perform collision avoidance manoeuvres to prevent crashes that could generate dangerous debris.
- SpaceX performed 144,404 collision avoidance manoeuvres in six months, averaging one every 1.8 minutes.
- Researchers introduced the CRASH Clock metric to quantify collision risk, comparing it to the Doomsday Clock.
- If satellites lost manoeuvrability, collision time dropped from 121 days in 2018 to just 2.8 days today.
- A powerful solar storm like the 1859 Carrington Event could disrupt satellites but likely not disable all at once.
- Tens of thousands more satellites are planned, increasing collision risks and further decreasing the CRASH Clock time.