A new report from the Federal Aviation Administration cautions that reentering debris from satellites in low Earth orbit could pose an increased risk to peoplex.
The report paints a grim picture of what could occur if SpaceX's Starlink satellites survive reentry into the Earth's atmosphere. An estimated 28,000 pieces of hazardous fragments could potentially be hurtling back toward the planet, and by 2035, one person will be either injured or killed every two years.
Considering how people on Earth would not be safe from these fragments, the FAA also warns of the possibility of planes being catastrophically damaged. The likelihood of an aircraft-downing accident is an estimated 0.0007 percent per year. While it is an incredibly low number, there's still a chance.
"There are millions if not billions or trillions of objects which are untracked," Dr. Madhur Tiwari, assistant professor of aerospace engineering at Florida Tech, said, per FOX 35 Orlando. "The problem with space is not just the amount, but the problem is also how fast they are moving."
After receiving a grant, Dr. Tiwari and his team are looking to find a solution using artificial intelligence and 3D modeling.
The FAA points out one important caveat with its projections: it all depends on how truthful SpaceX has been in its FCC filings regarding Starlink. If the Elon Musk-founded company has been honest in its reports of zero surviving debris, then the agency considers the risk of such an occurrence to be "minimal."
Guess we can all exhale a sigh of relief, because when has a Musk-backed company ever steered us wrong?
