Tuesday, July 28, 2026
Science

Burning satellites in the stratosphere: Emerging questions for climate

The sky is getting crowded. In the last few years, the number of satellite launches has increased by an order of magnitude as mega-constellations of internet-powering hardware crowd into low Earth orbit. The pace of both launching and retiring these units is creating new kinds of pollution, potentia...

Burning satellites in the stratosphere: Emerging questions for climate
Image: Phys.org
The sky is getting crowded. In the last few years, the number of satellite launches has increased by an order of magnitude as mega-constellations of internet-powering hardware crowd into low Earth orbit. The pace of both launching and retiring these units is creating new kinds of pollution, potentially upsetting the climate system and the protective ozone layer.

Originally published at Phys.org

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