Exploding satellite debris poses ‘Gravity’ style threat to spacecraft

IN A scenario that eerily echoes the plot of ‘Gravity’, scientists claim the explosion of a satellite has left other spacecraft at risk from hurtling debris.

Sandra Bullock In A Scene From Gravity

IN A scenario that eerily echoes the plot of ‘Gravity’, scientists claim the explosion of a satellite has left other spacecraft at risk from thousands of pieces of hurtling debris.

Researchers at the University of Southampton say the destruction of the US satellite has resulted in 50,000 pieces of debris, no bigger than the ball of a ballpoint pen, the London Telegraph reports.

When the US Defence Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) F13 satellite exploded on February 3, the large pieces of wreckage seen on radar were not considered a threat. The new research, however, suggests agencies failed to take into account tens of thousands of tiny fragments spinning around the Earth.

In the Hollywood blockbuster Gravity, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney become stranded when space junk from the destruction of a satellite collides with the Hubble Telescope during a repair mission.

Space vehicles at risk, the scientists say, include two satellites used to predict the weather; two US military and intelligence gathering crafts; Russian spy and meteorological satellites; a Canadian disaster management system and a US satellite currently used to map the devastation of the Nepal earthquake.

Prescient plot ... characters played by Sandra Bullock and George Clooney find themselves stranded in space during a repair mission in ‘Gravity’. Picture: Supplied

Dr Hugh Lewis, who represents the UK Space Agency on the Inter-Agency Space Debris Coordination Committee (IADC), said: “Even though many of these objects will be no bigger than the ball in a ballpoint pen, they can disable a spacecraft in a collision because of their enormous speed.

“In the case of the DMSP-F13 explosion, our work has shown that the introduction of a new cloud of small-sized debris into orbit will have increased the risks for other spacecraft in the vicinity, even if the risk from the larger fragments has been discounted.”

At risk ... the European Space Agency's MetOp-B ESA, used by to predict the weather. Picture: ESA/Eumetsat

Mapping techniques used by the scientists revealed 100 new objects and suggests more than 50,000 small fragments larger than 1mm resulted from the explosion.

PhD student Francesca Letizia, who led the research, said: “The fragments from the explosion spread around the Earth forming a band.

“The band can be crossed by spacecraft with orbits that are quite different from the one of DMSP-F13.”

The group’s mapping exercise also shows the top ten spacecraft at risk from the fragments generated by the explosion of DMSP-F13. “They are mainly US and Russian satellites in sun-synchronous or polar orbits,” Ms Letizia says.

Satellites considered at risk

Keyhole 3 USA

Lacrosse/Onyx 5 USA

Persona-2 Russia

MetOp-A ESA

MetOp-B ESA

Radarsat-2 Canada

Spot 5 France/Belgium/Sweden

Meteor-M2 Russia

Meteor-M Russia

Worldview 2 USA