An object fallen from the sky has broken my roof: space debris is starting to be a problem

At dawn last Good Friday, a luminous trail crossed the sky of the Spanish Mediterranean coast until it was lost in the marine horizon. After the initial stupor, the military commanders in charge of supervising space reported that it was a “grazing meteoroid” and not a ballistic missile or a Starlink satellite, as was considered. The scare brought to the fore the importance of controlling space debris orbiting the Earth.

According to the latest data from the European Space Agency (ESA), some 11,500 tons of objects launched into space are moving at high speed above our heads. The pollution beret is made up of one million pieces of waste between one and ten centimeters and 36,500 larger bodies. So much for the map of known debris, because not all of them are cataloged and tracked by the databases created after the start of the space race (the ESA monitors about 35,150).

Space debris

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be as large as a car or as small as a paint chip. “The real danger is the speed at which they move, more than 28,000 kilometers per hour, which turns them into real projectiles,” says Efrén Díaz, head of technology and space law at the Mas y Calvet Law Firm and general secretary of the Spanish Association of Aeronautical and Space Law (AEDAE). At this speed, the impact of a sphere measuring just over a centimeter could cause the same damage as a car traveling at 50 km/h.

Today, the greatest threat looms over satellites and stations located in low Earth orbit (from approximately 150 to 2,000 kilometers high), LEO for its acronym in English. A place that is becoming popular to bring internet to all parts of the globe, among other purposes. More than 2,000 devices were launched in 2023 alone, most of them Elon Musk's Starlink. With more vehicles, space highways become more dangerous. So much so, points out Víctor Barrio, senior associate at Hogan Lovells and vice president of AEDAE, “that maneuvers of both satellites and the International Space Station (ISS) to avoid collisions are frequent, thanks to the alerts received from the SST services. (Space Surveillance and Tracking)”.

The experts consulted are not alarmist, but they warn that the planet is continually bombarded with falling space debris. “Although our atmosphere manages to eliminate most of it, there are objects that manage to pass through it and impact the surface,” explains Barrio. For example, NASA is investigating the complaint of a Florida citizen who claimed that the remains of some batteries from the ISS crashed into the roof of his house on March 8.

The 1972 Convention on International Liability for Damage Caused by Space Objects establishes that the party responsible is the State that launches the object or “the one that has essentially participated in its manufacture,” Barrio interprets. This rule is stricter, explains the lawyer, when the damage occurs on Earth because guilt is not required. In cases like Florida, he explains, the citizen cannot go it alone, but it is the States that complain through diplomatic channels. “The procedure is clear,” he says.

In practice, indicates Efrén Díaz, it can be a complex task. There are multiple factors that can hinder a space debris fall claim. Mainly, he indicates, there is a testing problem. And it is not possible to practice expert reports in space. “There are few witnesses,” jokes the expert. Furthermore, deciding who is responsible is difficult, “especially if the object is not registered.” Once these stones have been sorted, the jurisdiction and applicable laws would have to be established, for example, if it was an international launch. Finally, obtaining compensation can be a pipe dream “if the person responsible is not willing to compensate,” Díaz laments.

Air traffic chaos

Another paradigmatic incident was the temporary closure of Spanish airspace that occurred in 2022 due to the uncontrolled reentry of garbage from a Chinese rocket. This situation caused flight delays that, according to European legislation, airlines do not have to cover because it is an extraordinary event. Although it is debatable that Spain can uphold the agreement, because it requires physical damage, Barrio defends a more lax interpretation that allows this type of extraordinary situations to be accommodated, which, however, are "increasingly common."

Regulatory efforts are currently focused on achieving a safer and more sustainable space environment. Juan Carlos Cortés, director of programs and industry at the Spanish Space Agency (AEE), assures that “it is possible to require companies and government entities to contribute to the reduction of space debris.” The vice president of the ESA council also gives an example of the agency's “Zero Debris” plan for 2030. The AEE, he advances, “is designing specific guidelines to establish safety, responsibility and coordination standards in the launch and maintenance of satellites by private entities.”

There are companies that develop technologies to manage the useful life of satellites and eliminate space debris. There are recommendations to remove obsolete ones in a maximum of five years. One of them is the Spanish GMV, whose strength is tracking systems, guaranteeing the security of space operations. Miguel Ángel Molina, deputy to the general director, explains that they are currently working on “hitching bays” to disorbit obsolete devices (such as those in cars so that the crane can grab them). These efforts will allow us to continue exploring space and allow future generations to contemplate a sky clear of stars.

A rubble fee

The idea of ​​charging a garbage fee to the countries or companies responsible for this debris to finance the cleaning of the space has been raised on several occasions, according to Efrén Díaz, from the law firm Mas y Calvet. The lawyer believes that it is difficult for such a system to be implemented in the short term because it would require an international agreement and the powers are on polarized geopolitical sides. “It is an attractive idea that faces significant challenges such as identifying those responsible given that space activities are carried out by a variety of actors,” says Díaz.