THUNDER BAY — A de-orbiting satellite caught the attention of thousands of residents in Northwestern Ontario.
At approximately 7:10 p.m. Dec. 6, shortly after the Parade of Lights began, a streak of light was seen descending toward Lake Superior.
“This could prove beneficial for understanding what we can do and improve in the future for satellite, satellite safety and satellite controls,” said Brendan Roy, president of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
The unidentifiable flying object was confirmed to be a Starlink satellite de-orbiting as a result of solar activity, Roy said.
“Those solar flares, which have produced some great images for northern lights, is also not so good for earthbound satellites,” he said.
“In this case, it’s likely (that) what's happened that the satellite got fried from the solar storm and was de-orbited as a safety measure.”
Currently, Starlink has a safety policy in place to de-orbit all satellites that aren't fully under their control, Roy said.
“This is to make sure that the airspace over the planet is safe for future astronauts and other spacecraft,” he said.
Space junk pollution that includes satellites is expected to be seen more frequently as time goes on, he said.
“That's going to be a huge problem and it's only going to get worse,” he said.
A number of other Chinese companies and Amazon are planning to launch more satellites into space, creating pollution, Roy said.
“They're launching tens of thousands of satellites, and this is going to be a problem for astronomers trying to see the night sky, learning about what's going on out there,” he said.
“It affects professional astronomers equally as it does amateur astronomers because those satellites are bright enough to come up in their astrophotos and just ruin the shot.”
Currently, a proposal is in place to place mirrors on satellites, which would compromise the night sky, Roy said.
“You'll get a night that's bright like the full moon every night, which is bad for astronomy and bad for the environment,” Roy said.
The increase in de-orbiting events is a concern, Roy said.
“There's more satellites and they're at more risk in the orbit with the sun being active,” he said.
Currently, Starlink loses three to four satellite every month and the number is sure to increase, Roy said.
“You add several more companies with the same thing and you're going to see 30 or 40 events a month, which can pose a risk to people on the ground and in the air as these events become more frequent,” he said.
If a satellite is fried while in orbit, the company operating it loses full control over it, losing the ability to land safely, Roy said.
“It's going to come down where it wants to come down,” he said.
Satellites, due to their size and nature don’t have any air for resistance, he said.
“When they come in without a plan, you just have a big box that's not aerodynamic and it just comes apart, it can't handle the stresses of re-entry,” he said.
Satellites de-orbiting without knowledge are the most concerning, Roy said.
“It's the ones that we don't know about that we're concerned about. So, another major solar flare event could bring down several more without knowledge,” he said.
In most de-orbiting cases, the satellite will cause a scene like at the Parade of Lights, where residents will see something spectacular, he said.
“This is essentially electronic material that's breaking up, so you have electronics, the fuels on board, breaking up and then melting and landing on the ground.”
“The same stuff that that's in your phones, in your laptops, if it's not properly disposed of, it can be dangerous to people, it can be dangerous to pets.”
The exact location of the satellite is unknown, he said.
“Thunder Bay was pretty much near the centre line of this event,” he said.
“We have observations as far east as Sault Ste. Marie and as far west as Winnipeg for this event, and all the way into southern Wisconsin.”
Satellites aren’t risk free, Roy said.
”They do provide a very good service to the country, and we do need them, but they need to be done like everything else in a responsible way,” he said.