Trash piles up — on Moon and in Earth’s orbit

Experts who are concerned say the time has come for people to think about what happens to all the landers, waste and miscellaneous debris left on the lunar surface and in orbit.

Most people think of space as vast and empty but the near-Earth environment is starting to get crowded, media reports say.

In August 2023, Russia’s Luna-25 probe crashed into the Moon’s surface and India’s Chandrayann-3 mission successfully landed in the southern polar region.

As many as 100 lunar missions are planned over the next decade by governments and private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Congested orbit

Near-Earth orbit is even more congested than the space between Earth and the Moon.

It is from 100 to 500 miles straight up, compared with 240,000 miles to the Moon.

Presently, there are nearly 7,700 satellites within a few hundred miles of the Earth. That number could grow to several hundred thousand by 2027, say media reports.

Many of these satellites will be used to deliver Internet to developing countries or to monitor agriculture and climate on Earth. Companies like SpaceX have dramatically lowered launch costs, driving this wave of activity.

“It’s going to be like an interstate highway, at rush hour in a snowstorm, with everyone driving much too fast,” space launch expert Johnathan McDowell told Space.com.

All this creates hazards and debris. Humans have left a lot of junk on the Moon, including spacecraft remains like rocket boosters from over 50 crashed landings, nearly 100 bags of human waste and miscellaneous objects like a feather, golf balls and boots.

It adds up to around 200 tonnes of trash.

Untidy Moon

Since the Moon has no owner, no one is responsible for keeping it clean and tidy.

The clutter in Earth’s orbit includes defunct spacecraft, spent rocket boosters and items discarded by astronauts such as a glove, a wrench and a toothbrush.

There are around 23,000 objects larger than 10 cm (4 inches) and about 100 million pieces of debris larger than 1 mm (0.04 inches). Tiny pieces of junk might not seem like a big issue, but that debris is moving at 15,000 mph (24,140 kph), 10 times faster than a bullet.

At that speed, even a fleck of paint can puncture a spacesuit or destroy a sensitive piece of electronics.

In 1978, NASA scientist Donald Kessler described a scenario where collisions between orbiting pieces of debris create more debris, and the amount of debris grows exponentially, potentially rendering near-Earth orbit unusable.

The United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967 is mute about companies and individuals and says nothing about how space resources can and can’t be used.

UN obligation

The UN Moon Agreement of 1979 held that the Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of humanity. However, the US, China and Russia have not signed it.

Scientists argue that to avoid a tragedy, the orbital space environment should be seen as a global commons worthy of protection by the United Nations.

The lack of regulation and the current gold rush approach to space exploration mean that space junk and waste will continue to accumulate, as will the related problems and dangers.