[ VO ] Planet Earth. Near future.
Near-earth orbit is littered.
It’s filled with millions of uncontrollable fragments – big and small.
Old, out-of-service satellites, pieces of space vehicles…
Space debris has enshrouded the planet,
and there’s no way to collect it.
Accidents have become commonplace in orbit.
Manned spaceflights are too dangerous.
Satellite communications are worsening.
Navigation on Earth has become unreliable.
The Internet, which everyone has grown so accustomed to,
is malfunctioning and losing speed.
Our favourite gadgets, a comfortable life in the hi-tech world –
everything has lost its meaning.
[ Host 1 ] A falling satellite…
[ Host 2 ] On Friday evening, Andrey was going about his business
when his usual routine was interrupted by...
[ Andrey Krivoruchenko ] I was just turning away from
the woodpile when there was a loud crack, like a whip.
[ VO ] Andrey Krivoruchenko’s house is on Cosmonaut Street.
On a December night,
the roof of the attic was pierced by a fragment from
a Meridian military and civilian telecommunications satellite
launched from the Russian cosmodrome in Plesetsk,
more than 3,000 km away.
[ Krivoruchenko ] I peeked through the window with a flashlight… I wasn't going in!
I saw a sphere this big lying there
[ VO ] Novosibirsk region locals found 10 fragments of a satellite
weighing between 0.5 and 2 kg.
They had time to take a couple of pictures of them.
Soon the debris was taken away by Emercom personnel -
that was the end of that emergency.
The Meridian didn’t reach its final orbit and fell,
becoming mere junk.
Had it failed a few minutes later, already in orbit,
the satellite would have turned into space debris
that could have caused formidable damage:
from millions of dollars in property losses to the loss of life,
from an international crisis to the outbreak of war.
In 1957, the USSR launched the first artificial Earth satellite.
The US followed in 1958.
Three years later, the first human reached outer space.
[ Astronaut ] Let's go!
[ VO ] The beginning of the space era
coincided with the Great Acceleration -
that’s how scientists refer to major changes in the world.
The global population, economy, number of vehicles,
the use of fertilizers have all been growing since then,
as well as the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere,
the number of floods, and number of endangered animal species.
The middle of the twentieth century has thus been
considered the beginning of the Anthropocene,
a new geological epoch in the history of Earth.
[ Michael Wagreich, member of the international commission on stratigraphy’s working group on the Anthropocene ] There is a term like 'anthroposphere,'
which is the extend of the Anthropocene
which is by now not only our globe.
Every satellite or every other space craft
that is going out extends the anthroposphere.
[ VO ] At the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory,
the frontiers of the anthroposphere are being monitored,
specifically, the space debris flying in the most distant of earth orbits.
In 20 years, local researchers have detected more than a thousand junk items.
A typical find by Vasily Rumyantsev
is so far away that it seems impossible to take a good look at,
let alone describe!
[ Vasily Rumyantsev, astronomer ] This object is around 10 cm in size,
about 36,000 km from the Earth
It's dark grey
[ Man ] Separation of the launch vehicle's 3rd stage confirmed
[ VO ] In 2017, Russian launch vehicle Proton-M
sent a Chinese communication satellite Asiasat-9 into orbit.
At first, the satellite was working as planned,
but the next night
astronomers found 13 different objects next to a part of the rocket,
a booster, at the height of 20,000 km.
On Vasily Rumyantsev’s photographs you can see the booster itself,
along with six smaller dots, fragments.
That’s how a satellite launch can lead to new space junk.
[ Rumyantsev ] Most of the debris hasn't been detected yet,
but, given how fast we're finding it,
we can be sure there's a lot of it… like, many times more
If you count fragments a few millimeters in size,
there could be a million objects like this
[ VO ] When humans flew to space for the first time,
there were already dozens of satellites launched
by the USSR and the US orbiting the Earth.
America was creating its first satellite navigation system,
a precursor to the modern-day GPS.
On June 29, 1961,
a stage of the rocket that took the Transit 4A satellite into orbit exploded.
296 fragments from the explosion
were the first space junk in history.
But no one has been taking it seriously.
[ Nikolay Smirnov, math & physics PhD, professor, MSU ] A collision with a particle one centimetre in radius
moving with a relative velocity of 10 km/s
is the energy equivalent of
a one-ton car hitting you at a 100 km/h
[ VO ] The year is 1968.
The USSR is holding the first tests of an antisatellite weapon:
the Soviet spacecraft Kosmos-249 has been destroyed,
110 fragments remain in orbit.
A total of 2,000 uncontrolled objects of varying sizes are already registered there.
[ VO ] Back then, space debris seemed to be a fringe concern.
Scientists were laughed at: neither people nor satellites were
really in danger because of the small fragments in orbit -
after all, they were only a few of them,
and they’d burn up when they re-entered Earth’s atmosphere.
[ VO ] NASA employee Donald Kessler started thinking about
space debris back in the mid-1970s.
[ Donald J. Kessler, American astrophysicist ] If you're talking about the 10 centimeter
and larger population you're talking about 18,000 cataloged objects
and I would have to say that only applies to tens centimeters and larger,
but from the haystack measurements, where you go down to one centimeter,
we have got about hundred thousand
of those objects and larger and larger.
And when you go down to a roughly the millimeter size
where you have to extrapolate just a little bit
because we only go down to three millimeters
you have to… You get into the hundreds of millions of particles.
[ VO ] These hundreds of million multifarious fragments
are flying next to artificial satellites numbering more than 2,000.
Just like on Earth, the most litter-ridden spot is the busiest one.
It’s a low-earth orbit, right next to the planet’s surface.
With this one, there’s really a hope that the debris will burn up one day.
[ Vladimir Agapov, Chief Scientific Expert, Ison ] In a low-earth orbit,
at a height of up to 600-700 km,
an object can last for a few decades
But, if we're talking about geostationary satellites,
the kind we use at home to receive satellite signals,
digital TV and internet,
they're at a height of almost 36,000 km, and nearly everything that ends up there
will remain there forever.
[ VO ] So, it appears that a space junkyard has formed around Earth,
and no one can clean it up! What’s more, it’s growing.
In 1978, Donald Kessler came to realise the imminent risk:
a moment will come when the debris won’t just collide with working satellites,
but will set off a collision-cascade
which will lead to even more secondary debris.
This space apocalypse scenario became known as the Kessler effect,
and Donald Kessler called for concerted efforts to avert the disaster.
[ Kessler ] One of the negative things that happened was one of my bosses.
When we said we need to start a program, he said:
«Oh you'll never be successful with a program like this.
It's going to require international cooperation».
[ VO ] International cooperation wasn’t possible in the context of the Cold War.
Besides, mankind wasn’t really aware of the risk:
first satellite phones were functioning fine,
television became the norm for millions,
the signal reached the most remote areas via space.
It was hard to imagine that some debris in orbit
could make it all disappear in an instant.
[ VO ] The year is 1985.
The American military decided to test an antisatellite weapon
and shoot down an old astrophysical satellite, Solwind.
[ Kessler ] In NASA we officially protested that particular test
and said that if they by doing this anti-satellite test
because we were planning a space station
in a not too distant future for my after that test,
that we would have to add extra shielding on the space station because of it.
The military at that time didn't believe us, they said:
«oh you don't know what's going to happen». I was: «how is that? ».
It may just punch a hole through it and that's it.
[ VO ] The test was a success.
But the targeted satellite turned into debris:
285 more dangerous junk fragments in orbit.
[ Kessler ] Of course when it happened they changed their mind,
so I think what we learned out of that is
you don't do those kind of tests, it's a very bad way
to try to take out a satellite
[ VO ] The year is 1991.
Space debris, an old Soviet satellite Kosmos-955,
drew near a Discovery shuttle.
But the crew noticed it in time,
and the shuttle maneuvered and avoided the collision.
Five years later, the Cerise French military satellite
collided with a fragment of an old Ariane rocket stage.
It was the first-ever collision of an active spacecraft with debris.
There were no more doubts about the risk that space debris posed.
The new question was: 'Who’s next?'
And when do space disasters start causing trouble on Earth?
[ Kessler ] We're estimating that about once every 10 years
were you should have a collision between two large objects
a catastrophic collision about once every 5 years,
you'd have a collision between a smaller fragment and a large object.
[ VO ] The year is 2009.
Two thirds of mankind use cellphones.
Maps with satellite images are among the most popular apps.
The majority of Earth’s population knows how the planet looks from space.
People from remote areas with no cellphone coverage
habitually use satellites to make calls.
[ VO ] The first space disaster,
the previously mentioned 'collision of two large objects,'
happens to a communications satellite.
Iridium 33 collides with the retired Kosmos-2251.
[ Kessler ] Well in case the Iridium cosmos collision
there was no prediction that those satellites would collide,
even though they were monitoring it.
They knew something was going to pass close
but the thing that they were predicting was going to pass close
wasn't actually the thing that they ended up hitting it.
So they were that far off.
[ VO ] After this disaster, one thing is clear:
even if monitored closely, there’s no guarantee of safety.
There’s too much uncontrollable space junk in orbit.
[ Man 1 ] So, is everything going ok?
[ Man 2 ] Everything's fine.
[ VO ] The year is 2011.
Experts are particularly rigorous in calculating the orbit of the ISS
and the threat posed by debris.
Onboard the station are Anton Shkaplerov,
Anatoly Ivanishin, and Daniel Burbank.
[ Anton Shkaplerov, Russian cosmonaut ] It was Sunday, about 4-5 am
My colleague, American astronaut Daniel Burbank, flew into my cabin and said:
'Anton, grab everything you can! We have to immediately evacuate to our Soyuz'
[ VO ] The mission control centre noticed a fragment of an old Soviet weather satellite
that could collide with the ISS within a few minutes.
An unexpected encounter could have resulted in a disaster.
[ Shkaplerov ] We flew into the ship,
and I partially closed this hatch
I didn't bother to close it all the way, I was waiting for the moment
If the station had been hit,
I would've shut the hatch, sealed the ship,
and we'd have detached and gone back to Earth
If it had hit the ship,
there was chance I could've opened the hatch
We'd have abandoned the ship, sealed it off,
and waited in the station for help from Earth
[ VO ] Luckily, the first-ever collision of a large fragment of space debris with the ISS
didn’t happen on that day.
But the risk of it has been increasing.
The year is 2018. Shkaplerov is again on the board the ISS.
He’s tweeting: 'Today we had an emergency descent drill inside the Soyuz ship
in case of an accident on the ISS.
For example, if there’s no way to evade a collision with space debris.’
[ Shkaplerov ] My first flight was in 2011
At that time, talk of dodging debris sounded absurd
It was necessary maybe twice in half a year
Now it's almost every month
[ VO ] The largest pieces of orbital debris are rocket bodies
and old satellites weighing several tonnes.
These are objects ISS pilots are taught to evade.
But microdebris could be even more dangerous
because it’s impossible to detect.
[ Agapov ] There's no technically feasible solution yet,
as these objects are very small and numerous,
and to track them all at the present time is extremely difficult
So, for the foreseeable future, at least 5 years,
we'll probably just live with this problem
[ VO ] In this picture taken on the ISS, you can see a mark
made by a 1-mm piece of space debris that hit a window.
Residents of the station have regularly been registering such ‘craters’
and measured their depth.
A micro-impact that goes unnoticed can be dangerous.
[ Shkaplerov ] Collisions do occur, we see it on the portholes
We take 2D pictures with a special camera and equipment
Of course, a window's got several layers
[ VO ] Most of the ISS’s surface is shielded with multilayered armour
to be able to take on these indiscernible killers, micro-particles of space debris.
[ Kessler ] When you look at any spacecraft surface
that has been recovered from space and that's happened quite a few times
over a very number of cases like that,
they're always covered with craters
and we've used
scanning electron microscopes to determine whether it's meteoroid or
our debris and the scanning electron microscope
comes up with these are man-made particles.
The first thing that we looked at turned out to be a paint flake is because of
the chemical composition of it.
[ VO ] The number of space-faring nations is growing.
Newcomers repeat the pioneers’ mistakes.
2007 – China tests the anti-satellite weapon.
2019 – India conducts a similar experiment.
The Earth orbit of today has become an arena of military ambition
that’s becoming more and more littered.
[ Kessler ] The military has long contended, that
if war ever broke out,
it would be space would be a prime target for that war because
the military depends on monitoring things that are going on
from the ground, their communication system is dependent on satellite communication….
And, so, in that, of course, then spurred some antisatellite testing
just to determine what would be the best way
to get the upper hand in case there really was a war that broke out.
[ VO ] All the space debris fragments that were noticed at the orbit
are registered in catalogues that are kept by the military.
But debris has started to pose a threat to the infrastructure around the planet,
both military and civilian.
Keeping debris catalogues away from prying eyes
is too dangerous these days.
[ Smirnov ] If a piece of space debris hit the satellite of one nation,
it could provoke a conflict, for example, between two nuclear powers,
and then there'll be hell to pay for Earth's entire population.
[ VO ] The number of space-faring nations is increasing,
and the risk of international conflicts because of space debris is growing.
Satellites have been flying around the planet for 60 years,
but there are still no traffic rules regulating
responsibilities in case of a collision with space junk!
[ Agapov ] For example, let's say we agreed with the US, conditionally,
that they'll remove one of our Russian rocket stages
We sign a contract, but don't address questions of responsibility
And, during the mission, something goes wrong, and the rocket stage is destroyed
Who'd be guilty?
The Russian Federation, because it belongs to them,
despite the fact the rocket stage may have been destroyed...
because the party removing it screwed up.
[ VO ] The year is 2018.
The series of experiments under the name "remove debris'
is carried out in lower orbit.
A daring endeavor to test the most incredible ideas
on capturing and destroying space debris.
It's impossible to run such experiments on Earth.
[ VO ] The most obvious method is to catch the fragments with a net.
It's not within the current technological capabilities to chase actual debris yet.
So, for the sake of the experiment,
mock targets were launched from the ISS.
They were followed by a catcher - a platform with a net.
[ Ingo Retat, head of Airbus’ RemoveDebris project ] The net in the container is attached to weights
that are shot out by a spring-loaded mechanism
They expand the net to the required size, in our case, that's 5 metres
And then it wraps itself around the satellite
[ VO ] This is footage from the collector cameras.
The net wasn’t fully deployed,
but it still managed to trap debris.
[ Retat ] It reminds me a bit of how they threw nets in the gladiator arena,
and it wasn't so easy to get disentangled
We also had an absolutely fool-proof system
in which the weights unwound and closed the net automatically
[ VO ] The entire operation took no more than 5 seconds.
Such a net can catch medium-sized fragments of debris:
up to 2 metres and weighing up to 2 tonnes,
and only from a distance of several metres.
So, it also needs to catch up with the actual space debris and approach it safely.
The most unexpected method tested under the Remove Debris project
is capturing debris with a harpoon.
But this raises a lot of questions.
[ Retat ] This is a good solution when the satellite isn't spinning,
and it has a place to attach a harpoon
Of course, you should make sure the harpoon doesn't hit some kind of tank
that might be under pressure.
[ VO ] A harpoon, a net as well as laser beams, and even a space sail,
are all experiments successfully carried out under the Remove Debris project.
But none of the aforementioned methods is ready to be used right now.
[ VO ] The display shows the trajectory of one of Earth’s artificial satellites.
It was launched by an Italian company that wants to supply debris mitigation modules
for all European satellites.
After a satellite ends its mission,
the module will remove it from orbit
in a matter of hours so that it can burn up in the atmosphere
instead of becoming space junk.
[ Luca Rossettini aerospace engineer, CEO, D-ORBIT ] We completed all the test launch tasks, but we wanted to do more…
to quickly take the satellite out of orbit
[ VO ] But the objective wasn’t met.
The module that was supposed to destroy the space debris
itself became junk.
[ Rossettini ] We knew the risks…
that the module's motor was very powerful,
and the satellite very small
It turned out its barycenter had shifted slightly relative to the housing,
so we pushed it too hard and sent it in the wrong direction
[ VO ] This runaway satellite is supposed to enter
the atmosphere and burn up there in a few years.
There’s no way to capture this fragment of debris.
All that’s left is to watch and wait.
[ VO ] Mankind plans to create a giant network of internet satellites.
But what billions of users are not aware of
is that their online lives are very vulnerable.
According to projections, at least once every ten years,
there’ll be some smashup in orbit, and these accidents will affect everyone.
[ VO ] Planet Earth. The future.
Maybe mankind has learnt to deal with the debris in orbit.
It doesn’t burn up, it gets recycled –
just as all kinds of junk does on Earth.
[ Kessler ] The most expensive part of the whole space program is the launches,
but if you have there are people who said
let's capture an asteroid and put it in Earth orbit
and use that raw material to do manufacturing in space,
well, you don't need to capture asteroid,
you got plenty of dead satellites around
that if you can collect them put them in one spot
and recycle them and use that as your raw material –
it would be a lot cheaper thing to do.
[ VO ] Building waste recycling plants in orbit
is a remote but inevitable phase of the nearest space exploration.
[ Rossettini ] It may sound like science fiction, but it's not
It's just another logical step in developing the aerospace industry.
[ VO ] Once the idea of launching a satellite also seemed utopian.
Nowadays, satellite systems help us to communicate,
move around the world, entertain ourselves, and stay informed.
We’re not aware of just how deeply space technology is rooted in our lives,
and how fragile this high technology is.
[ Shkaplerov ] I made three space flights in seven years
I constantly took pictures and shot videos of various places on Earth
You can find problem areas in any corner of the globe,
and we use our photography on social networks
to call on people to stop and make it cleaner.
[ VO ] Humanity’s impact on our planet is immense.
Man caused the beginning of the Anthropocene,
a new period in the life of Earth,
which is going to last many more millennia.
The Earth is changing.
Because of us.
And we must change too, for her sake.