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   Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Monday, 19-Feb-2024 16:28:19 JST Frédéric Jacobs

   ~100 more Starlink v1 satellites will be burning up in the upper atmosphere in the next 6 months, bringing up the total number of de-orbited Starlink satellites to ~500 out of 6000 launched
   https://api.starlink.com/public-files/Commitment%20to%20Space%20Sustainability.pdf

   De-orbiting satellites by burning them up did work when the volume of satellites was small, but already 10% of aerosol particules in the stratosphere contain aluminum/other metals.
   The problem is only going to get worse with the launch of megaconstellations https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.2313374120

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   • Embed this notice
     Hrafn (hth@androiddev.social)'s status on Monday, 19-Feb-2024 16:28:18 JST Hrafn

     in reply to

     @fj This will be the one to watch.

     "Japan to launch worlds first wooden satellite to combat space pollution"
     https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/feb/17/japan-to-launch-worlds-first-wooden-satellite-to-combat-space-pollution

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     Gabriel Pettier (tshirtman@mas.to)'s status on Sunday, 28-Apr-2024 11:45:43 JST Gabriel Pettier

     in reply to

     @fj will these aerosol affect the greenhouse or reflexion properties of our atmosphere? given such interventions have been proposed? 🥹

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     Marv Clowder (marvclowder@mstdn.jp)'s status on Monday, 06-May-2024 04:55:54 JST Marv Clowder

     in reply to

     @fj

     ...which might be *problematic*:

     https://forum.arctic-sea-ice.net/index.php/topic,2582.msg393667.html#msg393667

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     Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 17-May-2024 09:33:22 JST Frédéric Jacobs

     in reply to

     Proposal: A global tax, where you pay per kilogram of junk you burn up in the stratosphere.

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     Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Jul-2025 23:59:19 JST Frédéric Jacobs

     in reply to

     #Starlink and other satellites burning up in the atmosphere has caused a lot of metal pollution.

     A Japanese company offers satellites made out of Magnolia wood, which incinerate completely, with only water vapour and CO2 residues. An experimental satellite was handed over to JAXA for launch in November.

     https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-01456-z

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     Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Friday, 04-Jul-2025 23:59:20 JST Frédéric Jacobs

     in reply to

     7 Starlink satellites burned up in the higher atmosphere yesterday.

     Unlike what some are saying, these are satellites that were already planned to re-enter ahead of the solar storm and were launched in 2020/2021.

     clacke repeated this.
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     Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Jul-2025 00:09:26 JST Frédéric Jacobs

     in reply to

     LignoSat has reached orbit!

     More wood in satellites please.
     https://www.dw.com/en/worlds-first-wooden-satellite-launched-into-space/a-70691359

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     Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Jul-2025 00:09:36 JST Frédéric Jacobs

     in reply to

     "Falling satellites in 2022 produced about 17 tons of alumina, a 30% increase over natural levels. Fully realized “mega-constellations” of 550-pound satellites, which might be 30% aluminum, could add 360 tons a year, likely enough to harm the ozone layer.”
     https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2025-space-orbit-satellites-pollution/

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     Frédéric Jacobs (fj@mastodon.social)'s status on Saturday, 05-Jul-2025 00:09:37 JST Frédéric Jacobs

     in reply to

     • planet4589 (Jonathan McDowell)

     "We now have enough Starlink reentries to use the Kaplan-Meier survival analysis estimator to determine the median Starlink operational lifetime: 5.3 years. This mixes together V1 and V2M Starlinks."
     @planet4589

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