Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Increase Space Collision Risks, Study Warns

Greenhouse Gas Emissions Could Increase Space Collision Risks, Study Warns

Greenhouse gas emissions could affect satellite launches in the future, new research suggests. As it builds up, the pollution causes Earth’s upper atmosphere to contract, potentially raising the risk of satellite collisions in orbit. Image: Getty Images It’s yet another way that fossil fuel emissions are having a tangible impact on things people rely on daily, especially as telecommunication companies launch megaconstellations of satellites into orbit. Space, it turns out, is a finite resource — and it’ll have to be better managed as climate change makes things even more restricted, the study authors contend. “We’ve really reached the end of that era of ‘space is big,’ and I think we should stop saying that,” says William Parker, lead author of the study, which was published today in Nature Sustainability, and a PhD candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “People don’t realize that the space sustainability issue is really an issue that impacts them directly.” “We’ve really…