Rising satellite numbers could disrupt global air travel, scientists warn

Scientists have warned that the increasing number of satellites around the Earth could disrupt air travel.

According to research published in Scientific Reports, there is now a 26 percent chance of space debris or malfunctioning satellites re-entering Earth’s atmosphere unexpectedly.

Although the chances of space junk hitting a plane remain extremely slim, about one in a million, the falling debris could force the temporary closure of flight routes.

Flight delays or route closures as safety measures could disrupt air travel significantly.

According to Daily Mail, air traffic is expected to grow by 2.4 percent each year until 2050, meaning more planes will take to the sky. Similarly, the number of satellites is also expected to increase, thus increasing the risk.

Rough estimates suggest that currently around 12,000 active satellites are in space and the figure is projected to rise to 100,000 by the end of 2030.

There has been no incident reported so far about the space debris hitting a passenger plane; however, the recently unplanned crashing of a Chinese Zhugue-3 rocket into the South Pacific Ocean prompted heightened monitoring in the UK.

A similar incident was reported in 2022 when the airspace over parts of Spain and France was closed due to predictions of space debris falling in the area, and hundreds of flights were delayed during the incident.