Signal 140 million debris pieces and rising Kessler Syndrome risk

Summary

About 15,000 objects have been launched into orbit since the days of Sputnik, and together they have produced an estimated 140 million fragments of debris. EY describes open access to limited orbits as a tragedy of the commons. The debris problem worsens as launch rates speed up, sharply raising the chance of a Kessler Syndrome event. In that scenario, collisions trigger further collisions in a runaway chain that could leave orbits unusable for centuries. EY adds that climate change makes things worse, because greenhouse gases cool and contract the upper atmosphere, which reduces drag and slows the rate at which old satellites fall and burn up.