- Internet satellite networks entering the atmosphere en masse could damage the ozone layer, a study warns.
- Elon Musk’s Starlink is by far the largest player in this field.
- The effects could “interrupt ozone’s success story for decades to come,” the scientists said.
Internet satellite networks like Elon Musk’s Starlink could contribute to the destruction of the ozone layer, a new study claims.
Scientists from the University of Southern California’s Department of Astronautical Engineering warned that the massive increase in internet satellites in low Earth orbit could lead to harmful chemical reactions in the atmosphere.
There are currently more than 8,000 internet satellites in low Earth orbit, including about 6,000 Starlink satellites, a news release said.
All are made with large amounts of aluminum and designed with a short lifespan of about five years, it added.
The problem arises when the satellites fall into Earth’s atmosphere and burn up, creating aluminum oxide, the scientists say, triggering a chemical reaction that is highly destructive to the ozone layer.
The study, published last week in the peer-reviewed journal Geophysical Research Letters, found that the presence of the oxides increased roughly eightfold between 2016 and 2022 – and could increase much further with current satellite launch plans .
SpaceX plans to launch an additional 42,000 Starlink satellites, according to Space.com. Other companies, including Amazon, have plans to launch thousands more of their own businesses, the study authors said.
Worse, the oxides are not consumed by the action, so the effect can last for decades as the particles float down, she added.
In 2022, 18.7 tons of alumina nanoparticles were released into the atmosphere by falling satellites, they said.
Looking ahead to planned satellite launches, this could increase to as much as 397 tonnes per year, leading to “significant ozone depletion”, the study said.
A revolution in high-speed internet
The system of placing many small satellites in low Earth orbit allows faster processing of larger amounts of data.
Previous satellites operated much higher up – at the expense of internet speed – but had a much longer lifespan.
Elon Musk started SpaceX, the parent company of Starlink, in 2002 and built it into one of the largest players in the space industry.
The first launch of experimental Starlink satellites took place in 2019. Since then, the launches have continued, forming a mesh-like mega-constellation that has helped meet the huge demand for high-speed global internet access – particularly in Ukraine, where the technology of crucial has been the country’s defense communications.
Starlink’s X Account said in May that it serves three million Internet customers in 100 countries and territories.
Pause for a rare success story
In the 1970s, it was discovered that the widespread use of chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, was causing a huge hole in the ozone layer.
A 1987 ban on CFCs helped slow the process, and in 2013 authorities predicted that the ozone layer would repair itself within decades.
It was a rare success story in a series of global climate-related problems.
But this progress could now be stalling, the USC scientists said.
“The unexpected growth of aluminas could interrupt the ozone layer’s success story in the coming decades,” they wrote.
In In 2023, observers from the European Space Agency noted that the hole in the ozone layer over Antarctica was about three times the size of Brazil and was “one of the largest ever recorded”.
At the time, the agency said it was too early to determine the cause, and did not mention satellite burning as one of the possible factors.
Starlink did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment, which was sent after business hours.