Over the recent years, more and more spacecraft have been lifted off into Earth's orbit, and more launches are expected in the near future. The growing number of satellites burning up in Earth's atmosphere has concerned experts, as the environmental impacts of spaceflight are becoming increasingly clear.
Satellites from private companies have been a serious concern for astronomers because of their tendency to block cosmic images and interfere with radio telescopes. They also pose increased risk of collisions with other spacecraft.
But the real threat from private satellites actually comes after they die. When satellites end their space missions, most of them deorbit and get burned up in the atmosphere in order to minimize the amount of space debris circling the Earth. However, as they fall apart in flames, the dying satellites leave the upper atmosphere with vaporized metal pollution.
In a new theoretical paper, Sierra Solter-Hunt proposed that this space dust may compromise the magnetosphere, the part of the Earth's magnetic field which protects us from solar radiation. She warns that if the megaconstellations from spacecraft evolve, the amount of dust they release could create a magnetic shield that can limit the reach of the magnetosphere.
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