A growing risk of space debris hitting airplanes has been warned by researchers in a new study. While the probability of a strike is low, the consequences could be catastrophic.
The study, published in Scientific Reports, found that high-density regions around major airports have an 0.8% chance per year of being affected by uncontrolled reentry, while areas like the northeastern United States and Asia have a 26% risk.
Space debris remains in orbit, with trackable objects doubling in number over the last decade. The number of daily flights has also nearly doubled since 2000. Large reentries occur almost weekly.
The study authors suggest that airspace restrictions may not be enough to mitigate the risk and recommend that all rocket missions require controlled reentries with charted flight paths and scheduled landings. Currently, fewer than 35% of launches have controlled reentries.
“This is a design choice, not a necessity,” the researchers noted. “If all operators used controlled reentries, the risks to people and aircraft would be greatly reduced.”
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/space-junk-risk-impacting-planes-researchers