Satellites burning up in the atmosphere may deplete Earth's ozone layer – Physics World

The increasing deployment of extensive space-based infrastructure is predicted to triple the number of objects in low-Earth orbit over the next century. But at the end of their service life, decommissioned satellites burn up as they re-enter the atmosphere, triggering chemical reactions that deplete the Earth’s ozone layer. Through new simulations, Joseph Wang and colleagues at the University of Southern California have shown how nanoparticles created by satellite pollution can catalyse chemical reactions between ozone and chlorine. If the problem …