Satellite trash - The dark side of the space boom | DW Documentary

More and more satellites are circling the Earth, as launching them become cheaper and cheaper. But out-of-service satellites can remain in orbit for decades. Now specialized companies want to help tidy up space.
Telephone calls, satellite navigation, online banking: The services we depend on every day require satellites to work. But the risk of collision grows with each new object that is launched into orbit. And with every crash comes more debris that’s increasingly difficult to control. If there’s an impending threat of a collision, even the International Space Station (ISS) can only try to dodge the danger. In such emergencies, the crew battens down the hatches and heads for the "lifeboat” - the capsule attached to the ISS. German astronaut Matthias Maurer describes how they simply seal all the doors to the space station and hope for the best.
But gradually, people are starting to realize that we need to get rid of this space debris before disaster strikes. The Munich-based aerospace company HPS is planning to help the tidy-up operation with its innovative drag sail. The first test runs in space are already very promising.
#documentary #dwdocumentary #satellite #space
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[@ennisdodd1888]

The human trait of trashing everything, even space.

[@leskobrandon6950]

30 years ago you couldn't have commented on this video or even watch this video the way that you're watching it now So yes we trash a lot of stuff but we have a lot of technology that's making our lives better So what do you want do you want to go back to this Stone age where we can't communicate or do you want to continue into the future and maybe trash a few things but make lives better for everybody including yourself

[@mikelee9516]

🧐

[@baxtishodtoxtasinov9458]

@@leskobrandon6950 Before our planet becomes unusable, I hope the technologies you mentioned can find a new habitable planet...

[@er3n_genes1s21]

@@leskobrandon6950 making lives better in cost of trashing the space we live in. i see

[@athan7199]

@@leskobrandon6950 so where is all this trash going to go?... can anyone dumb them in your house?

[@ThisFinalHandle]

The chance of getting hit by falling space junk is higher than winning the lottery. Good luck everybody.

[@tylerbhumphries]

Thanks. New (random) fear unlocked.

[@ladibyrd]

lol!

[@suedenim6590]

Yet there are people that have won it more than once Sherlock. School much😂

[@leskobrandon6950]

I don't play the lottery. I guess I have a better chance. Lmfao

[@MDrfc1872]

​@@suedenim6590 you didn't get it did you?

[@jsmcguireIII]

Every time someone tells me they saw "some beautiful meteors last night" I tell them they were actually watching someone else's burning garbage being dumped on them.

[@BigBoss-sm9xj]

lol It's still really cool to see. Or ifs star link satellites it's even cooler

[@antonychipman3088]

If the material is accreted, then we have a space elevator for free

[@aaronoksanen7340]

Å😊😊😊😊😊😊😊

[@somerandomfella]

In the last century we've managed to trash the land, oceans and now space. We're coming for you Mars!

[@xandear1]

Once again DW does a great job sharing information about this new frontier. Thank you so much.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching and taking the time to comment. Be sure to check out our channel for more content.

[@stargazer3364]

Aliens are going to get pissed at us for throwing trash on their highways...😂...

[@jerometaperman7102]

I have been speculating for some time that an entrepreneur will start up a company to collect space junk and derelict satellites for a fee. It would be paid by the government at first but soon the government will assess a fee for anyone who wants to put something in orbit to defray the cost of its eventual retrieval. Not unlike the used oil disposal fee at Jiffy Lube.

[@cjfredi]

Thank you DW for bringing this to light. It is a serious subject concerning the future.

[@NazriB]

Lies again? Google Drive Testicles Balls

[@fernandaepics2286]

sound paid comment! No one media channel are free and independent. and the collective system today, are full of lies, and manipulation. one way they use a lot , are the positive and negative associations and mark reinforcement.

[@lazarusblackwell6988]

"Time to clean up space junk!" Man. We cant even clean up our planet.

[@somaghosh2960]

Simply beautiful documentary✨. Thank you DW.

[@sosmaina4836]

Thanks @DWDocumentary it enlightening that so much is happening above us

[@kinyuakariithi]

DW got the best documentaries, Amazing content indeed

[@joelvideosedward3789]

Thank you for this.

[@nesseihtgnay9419]

Humans are like: we polluted our earth, now leta pollute space too

[@PapaTanGh0stNI9htM4R3S0nMaInSt]

What goes up must come down.

[@craigb8228]

Heard a Solar EMT could bring many satellites to the ground.

[@PapaTanGh0stNI9htM4R3S0nMaInSt]

@@craigb8228 Or the ISS.

[@josewmard]

It's important for europe to strive for independence in this particular area, especially considering that they may not have achieved the same level of independence as china did in areas such as military, technology (internet), manufacturing and economy. It would be great if europe can work by reaching a level of competitiveness with both the usa and china in this domain.

[@Banzo-AAA]

The problem is Europe is too involved on the Social justice and don't care much about the rest. you always hear, this scandanavian country is the happiest country, this european country has the best living standard in the world. However, now it turning into the gender laws and all that stuff, but they forgot what actually matters, Europe consists of a lot of countries trying to compete with USA and China. when in reality they should be the one leading the globe because normally in union comes power. But in reality it's going in a rapid decline, can't even make enough electricity for their own people, can't find clean ways of heating up their houses without the russian gas, crime is in a sharp rise, Illegal Immigrants flow is higher than ever, a lot of african countries (which supply europe with raw materials) are realising how europe fucked them over for years and started trading with china. like Mali/ Congo/ Ivory coast/ Morocco/ South africa and a lot of countries in the african horn, and it only got easier after a lot of them won't use the dollar for global trade anymore. throughout our life time there is always a rise and a decline of a civilisation. and i think we are witnessing a downfall of the western power and a rise of the chinese. as much as I don t want that to happen, but some things are bigger than us.

[@maineusaMax]

You're part of NATO, our satellites are yours. Europe wouldn't exist today free, if millions of Americans didn't die. Yes, EU needs to be self sufficient, but until your militaries are enough to protect yourselves, you're lucky to have the American taxpayer as your friend. Putin would try to take back former Soviet countries, plus more. You made yourselves reliant, don't blame us Americans.

[@praddumnvats6759]

lmao what is this obsession with competition

[@aztronomy7457]

Europe needs a manned space program....I don't get why they don't have something. Competition is good for everyone.

[@aztronomy7457]

@@praddumnvats6759 Do you think the US would have gotten to the moon in 69 if not for the USSR?

[@JillTravenner]

Nice documentary very interesting to watch.🎉

[@mjc11a]

Thank you @DW Documentary for another informative episode. But, I have to ask, is it necessary to have the closed caption box in the center of the screen?

[@anita.b]

Just like the industrialization of the other parts of our environment nobody will do anything anytime that matters. Hopefully some space pirates can help push for legislation. :)

[@texasray5237]

Small fragments at that altitude may have an orbital ground speed of 40,000 kph but that doesn't mean that they will collide with spacecraft at that speed. If the spacecraft is in the same orbit and going the same direction then the debris will just be floating along almost motionless. If the debris is going the opposite direction then (as they are both orbiting at the same altitude they'll have the same speed and the differential speed would be twice the orbital speed. Or, in this case, 80,000 kph.

[@banerjeesiddharth05]

Very nice documentary 👌 👍 👏

[@g_y.rtz420]

Not gonna miss my chance to plug "Planetes", an underrated show that starts off being about space debris but ends with heavy human drama, social critique on corporate and government power, existentialism and futurism. Amazing story, only slow to start but hits really hard once it gets going.

[@GentleFD25]

was just about to say LOL one of my favs

[@RanmaSyaoranSaotome]

0:44 - What an incredibly short sighted point of view. If space is out of bounds, it impacts all of humanity for generations to come not just corporate profits.

[@Schneizel00]

Reminds me of a great anime "Planetes" based on space trash, do give it a watch if you're into sci fi

[@rsmith4339]

iIs a confort to know private companies are launching rockets . They always have our best interests at heart !

[@Vitan91]

Truly, the free hand of the market will solve everything. remember kids, Greed is good! /S

[@androwaydie4081]

Money isn't a trading system anymore it has become the planet's demise because it got to the heads of too many people and greed is out of control.

[@Justin1337Sane]

Nasa needed a private companie ;)

[@dlight9849]

Reminds me of Korean movie Space Sweepers (2021) where people hunt for space junk for the financial reward (scrap value).

[@bennyfranklin]

Great doc. Who’s idea to use pharaoh Monch ? Noice work y’all.

[@kitersrefuge7353]

Good content thank you DW.

[@DWDocumentary]

Thanks for watching!

[@notayetti555]

The one thing we should be worried about is our over-relliance of satellites. Which most likely will happen within the next couple of decades. Once we have reached those levels, one single collision will start what we know as the Kessler Effect and then, ladies and gentlemen, chaos!

[@abelflexes2]

SKYNET 😮

[@leskobrandon6950]

I would be more afraid of our reliance on solar and wind power when neither of those are reliable our satellites will rely on us being able to communicate with them and if we don't have the power to communicare with them will be way worse off than if we had something that was reliable and all the time and not up and down like solar and wind when he reliable source of energy on the planet to communicate with the things that we send it to space

[@sleepy_dobe]

Trash is something we should be worried about, wherever it is, whether in space or here on earth.

[@magesalmanac6424]

Out of sight out of mind 😞

[@suedenim6590]

Imagine sending up a cube sat full of ball bearings it'd be absolute MAYHEM😂

[@colemantrebor1610]

Pure evil… hahaha

[@suedenim6590]

15:28 did they literally have to tie him to his seat?!?! 😂😂😂

[@allyourcode]

I'm finding it hard to imagine that most people will bother to add deorbit devices. Every ounce and cubic inch is precious, especially if you are a small company trying to get started. There really needs to be some kind of treaty. Seeing as how some countries conduct anti satellite missile tests in space, it's hard to imagine that they would actually enforce such treaties. Myopia is the baseline human condition.

[@scjdg]

If the launcher requires it as a condition...

[@texasray5237]

Don't worry, China already has plans to weed out the satellites and other junk that isn't needed and doesn't conform to standards.

[@807800]

That's good, but really should have more focus on ASAT test.

[@neoanderz]

Happened lastnight in Melbourne Australia!

[@shlmel]

This may be the most important Video of the 21st Century going forward.

[@vinayaksingh8497]

26:38 starlink constellation+tesla auto drive mode cars with enhanced distance coverage is pure futuristic model

[@bidav2114]

That's a Dodge right there😍😍 7:46

[@JML6988]

Keeping the orbital paths free of debris could be a job for USSF.

[@BigBoss-sm9xj]

I think that's a good idea. Kinda like being the police for space

[@PunaSquirrel]

Space Force

[@ArgonDavid]

Space cleaning and maintenance also required. 🙏

[@_Maxl344]

As a professional activist, I believe in order to save the planet and eliminate the pollution, we should abandon all the technologies we have and go back to the old days when the average life time is around 30. So progressive!!!

[@Roudolfqu]

This is interesting, I am telling my family and friends about this yea

[@JamesOfEarth]

1979 tv show “Salvage 1” had the premise actually collecting space junk. Preventing future additions is good and all, but what about removing what’s already there?

[@arbaz79]

Great documentary as always 👍.

[@johnshields6852]

One of these days a piece of space junk will survive reentry and land on someone's head.

[@HelenBratter]

Wow!

[@athan7199]

@2.03, the starlink moving across... is that speed 17500 km/h?

[@PriscillaBarberi]

So true

[@misdrevenous]

Thank you DW and all of the people working in making these amazing documentaries

[@DWDocumentary]

Thank you for watching:)

[@georgenzioki]

How about collisions up there?

[@craigb8228]

Not a problem, there's only one Tesla up there.

[@phil20_20]

We need Dr. Blowfeld! 😅 I started seeing these in the '80s. One of them split into two colors, orange and white. Until recently I thought it was a two part meteor. Oh well. Another one made a sonic boom that set off a bunch of geese across a pond. They sounded just like a flying saucer. That was awesome. 😂 This just in: Elon Musk shoots down his own SpaceX capsule with his Starlink satellites!

[@KazenoniKakuremi]

that fuel tank could have killed someone - i bet they used the fuel reserved for positioning the satellite for safe re-entry over the ocean to get on a few extra days of billable time

[@knite7]

Here in Jamaica you see satellites regularly especially in the rural areas at night when the sky is clear. I have always thought for years now, that space agencies are using the oceans as dumping ground for decommissioned satellites.....as the documentary said not all burn out in the Earth's atmosphere.....

[@BlueJazzBoyNZ]

Active measure must be taken. Otherwise every Sat is under threat

[@scotthaydenmakaga9458]

What app was use by that man 1:57

[@Random_How-tos]

Space junk is a real problem. I’m glad people are finally talking about it.

[@markusrobinson3858]

This documentary hits all the critical points except one; the impact of the militarization of space upon the debris problem. Both Russia and China have eacg fired a satellite destroying weapons at one of their own satellites in order to "prove" that their satellite killer technologies work. These two test generated thousands of additional pieces of space junk; a result that worsened the situation dramatically as a result of only two events. World bodies could push for a treaty outlawing such tests in space, and could impose penalties for violations of such a treaty. There ARE things that can be done in the realm of International relations in order to minimize the danger of a cascading event that rendered access to space impossible.

[@nehcooahnait7827]

You point almost hit the missing point except one: Russian and Chinese anti-satellite missiles are the direct response to the US AMERICAN’s MILITARY capabilities to destroy satellite with their own anti-satellite missiles. The US militarization of space is always provocative and invites further militarization and even arm race, as in the Cold War.

[@-chrislopezskate-5175]

How are we supposed to clean it up when only a certain amount of people have access to go up there?

[@sar4806]

Cue Wolfgang Gartner - Space Junk

[@daveinthailand]

The US launch satellites like they buy burgers then say what are we doing with the junk 😂😂😂

[@kapuatron]

No actually discussion on how to achieve the tidy up?

[@haleymoore6684]

A day will come where those resources could save all of mankind...but only a few will live because careless and wreckless industries squandered them and doomed us all.

[@roxcastaneda]

There’s too much up there!

[@NyanyiC]

3:39 the shot with the middle eastern men was good. It's scary how big that thing was though

[@phillipharding9966]

U need to build a system for Retrieving debris in space to bring bring back and melt down and re-process

[@phillipharding9966]

Well u better create a force field to repel debris from hitting the craft that is in

[@vickomen3697]

4:16 is the most inacurrate way of portraying space junk. Take for instance how huge container and freight ships are yet look like tiny dots in the ocean, and now compare these satellites to the enormous globe that is the Earth.

[@MrGchiasson]

We need a fleet of 'space-tugs'..with a battering ram to 'nudge' junk out of orbit..in a calculated impacting in the seas..or burn up in reentry.

[@HawthorneHillNaturePreserve]

Well, we don’t do a very good job with trash on earth. I’m pretty pessimistic about our trash in space. We’ve already done so much damage! As we evolve as a civilization, I’m hoping we can develop better solutions.

[@wangariwairimu1st]

Humans polluting just everywhere in the universe 😮

[@agw5425]

We are long past the point of no space access because of debris, it is already sat in motion soon the first of the collision will happen and the chain reaction will bar space from us for a decay or more till leo is cleared up enough to risk another launch. Perhaps cleaner satellites can be put in high orbits and use lasers to "push" the debris out of orbit if that is even theoretically possible. If not then it is high tide we start develop shields similar to sci fi like star trek.

[@larrybooth1771]

Why One at a time? Carbon fiber dragnet would work to collect many pieces of junk. I know Nuten will play a big role in the conclusions. Space is a big place to maintain.

[@simonirvine1628]

What a mess

[@derickshalo384]

We haven’t even started cleaning the ocean properly, now we are talking about space??

[@cl7910]

We've been cleaning the OCEAN and RIVERS for years. The problem are every HUMAN BEING and companies that don't care. At this point, humans are just another pest.

[@olivergrumitt2601]

We should both. Because one problem has not been solved does not mean we should not attempt to solve the other.

[@xmatterdaily]

With quater of a million debris in space, and at an increasing rate of 10s of thousands per year, this is a visible problem.

[@checkma8s]

Our company uses starlink but internet still slow.. theres somethin wrong with the installation

[@cobaltuniversedotnet]

Chances are your company has bogged down their own system with admin programs that run and monitor computer activities constantly. There are many third party software providers that prey on the fear companies have that employees are going to go to the wrong web site, steal money, or sabotage. SAP built their entire company based on the fear that custom systems could be corrupted or misused by custom programers. They sell their system due to it being so accountant friendly, but it's so limited that most companies still have to have other systems to run their logistics and production planning.

[@ian_davidson]

There is no way that space trash burning up in our atmosphere is good for our atmosphere.

[@beneelahana7320]

He sent a electric scooter in space its scooting around earth.

[@monicaperez2843]

LOL! 😂

[@mariannepedersenhagen6760]

YES!!!

[@Quantumanticz]

Ya know there’s something to say about countries that can barely keep their streets clean being allowed to pollute space…

[@teaincrumpets8456]

Am I missing something here but are there no stars outside the windows of the space station?

[@greekterr0ru-i13]

??

[@dennismendez947]

It's crazy, navigation is already done by Google mapping then scam satellite is have a built in stimulation. Hehehe

[@FR_films]

First bring the trash into space. Then let the trash fall to earth. Gotta love humanity. Always leaving trash somewhere

[@stuffedgrubs]

At the risk of sounding stupid. Is there a reason they can't send an extra piece of equipment to orbit in front of the space station to act as a bullbar or shield? Like hang a few hundred metres in front to bear the brunt of these unavoidable strikes.

[@markgalbraith4655]

how will they get shuttles thru the debris to travel to moon or mars without massive risk?? we r locking our own door to the planet in a way...

[@jrtstrategicapital560]

ET observing us in our zoo shaking their heads..here goes those humans again! First they litter their lands, their rivers, oceans, artic lands now SPACE!

[@keymonkey1230]

if there's drag fpr the sail to catch then propellers would work doesn't it?

[@Roshan_Amal]

Your reasoning seems right. But there are a few problems. A propeller would be significantly heavier. It requires an additional power source. The sail itself takes 2 years to deorbit. Which means the atmosphere is extremely thin. The amount of energy required by a propeller to make a significant difference, would be huge.

[@jimcypher]

Pharoahe Monch at the 7:40 mark! 🎶

[@jorgeribeiro7419]

Only one word for DW Documentary :WOW

[@DWDocumentary]

Thank you!

[@Treecore751]

I'm glad to see interest in Kessler syndrome with almost 5 million views.

[@GreyMatterTripp]

This is journalism.

[@liviusky]

The world speaks so much about recycling and yet no one came with an idea to recycle space junk in space and use it as raw materials for 3d printing ships in a space shipyard. You only need to start with a space station, a colector and a forge who melts the metal using sun rays. Is so expensive to launch heavy stuff to space, but what if, you can manufacture all in orbit or in outer space?you start with recycling space junk and you finish with space mining

[@alienq360]

No one have hit but other creatures may have surely hit 💔

[@paulmitchell5349]

Trapped on Earth ? Ridiculous . Most of us will never go anywhere else. We exist in space already ,on the surface of this planet.

[@leonleon2276]

Kids these days don’t fall for the “look there’s a shooting star” fairytale anymore 😂

[@kurt2612]

It's less of a danger than pretty much anything else

[@obbie1osias467]

Once Starship proves its spaceworthiness, there's a possibilty it will be used to collect these space junks to bring safely back to earth. Some of the satellites contain valuable materials for recycling.

[@marcocattaneo9974]

Wondering what I'm looking at here: human greed or technical innovation? Maybe they're forever bound to each other.

[@Runeansfelt]

USA should regulate who can send what up in space and when and how much. It's in our all's interest.

[@BigBoss-sm9xj]

agreed

[@craigb8228]

The world should be involved. One country is relatively worthless.

[@LifesAShortTripToEternity]

Funny how we never see ANY space junk or satellites anywhere when the ISS is showing areas where it should clearly been seen...