Close
The Environmental Impact of Burning Space Debris
15 January 2024
Dr Connor Barker and Dr Eloise Marais presented their findings on megaconstellation satellites and space tourism threatening Earth's atmosphere at the European Space Agency Workshop.
Dr Connor Barker and Dr Eloise Marais were invited to present their research on the environmental impact of the space sector at the European Space Agency鈥檚 workshop on .
The interdisciplinary workshop brought together leading scientists from across the US and Europe to exchange knowledge on the topic of聽enhancing the聽ESA鈥檚 and regulators鈥� understanding of the pollution generated when space waste is discarded by burning it through Earth鈥檚 atmosphere.
Connor, a Research Fellow in Geography working in Eloise鈥檚 group, spoke about the rapid increase in pollution from end-of-life megaconstellation satellites like SpaceX鈥檚 StarLink constellation since 2020.
Eloise, an Associate Professor in Physical Geography and lead of the , discussed the potential for a future space tourism industry to deplete the protective ozone layer, potentially undermining progress achieved with the very successful Montreal Protocol global ban on ozone-depleting substances.
More information
- Dr Eloise Marais teaches on our MSc Climate Change 补苍诲听MSc Remote Sensing and Environmental Mapping postgraduate courses.聽
- Dr Connor Barker is a Research Fellow specialising in聽atmospheric chemical modelling and developing emission inventories for satellite megaconstellations at the UCL聽Atmospheric Composition and Air Quality Group.