Near-miss raises fear of satellite crash catastrophe

A SINGLE satellite collision could trigger a catastrophic debris storm and render space unusable, scientists have warned, following a near-miss.

Two defunct satellites were just 150ft away from smashing into each other on Wednesday, which could have sent thousands of pieces of space junk swirling through Low Earth Orbit, sparking a cascade of collisions with other spacecraft.

There are currently almost 4,500 satellites in orbit, yet only 1,500 are active and British experts say that if nothing is done soon to clear out the disused craft, a crash is inevitable.

The ensuing storm of particles would cause a chain reaction known as Kessler syndrome, which could destroy everything in orbit, and cause serious damage to the International Space Station, an outcome dramatised in the film Gravity.

Richard Duke, spacecraft operations engineer from the University of Surrey, who has helped to design a harpoon and net system to clean up space junk, said: “These things are travelling way faster than a speeding bullet so when they crash it is absolutely catastrophic. If we do nothing about it, then it’s a matter of when, not if, this happens.

“And after one collision you suddenly have one thousand or two thousand more bits, which can then start a cascade and it soon gets to a tipping point where you can’t stop it – known as Kessler syndrome.

“It could get to a point that we can’t stop it and we could end up not being able to use space anymore.”

British engineers at Airbus have developed a space harpoon to capture junk in orbit, and in trials last year, showed it was possible to grab debris.