New Telescope Tracks Space Junk to Avoid Multi-Billion Dollar Collisions

Space junk is a growing problem in our Earth's orbit. Debris from decommissioned satellites and other projects orbit our world, creating the potential for collisions which could impact future space missions. Now, though, scientists have found a way to track this space junk using a youth radio station. This, in turn, could help spacecraft and satellites avoid this trash and multi-billion dollar collisions.

The new project involves the use of the newly operational Murchison Widefield Array (MWA), one of three precursor telescopes for the $2 billion Square Kilometer Array project. The MWA will be used to detect radio waves reflecting off thousands of objects orbiting Earth. In fact, the researchers have already tracked radio waves from FM transmitters located near Perth and Geraldton bouncing off the International Space Station as it passed over WA.

"We have shown that we are able to detect approximately 10 pieces of space junk simultaneously," said Steven Tingay, one of the researchers, in a news release. "Over time this means we are in a position to monitor a significant fraction of the space junk that is in Earth's orbit."

This new detection system could be extremely important in the future. An early warning system has the potential to protection the billions of dollars' worth of vital infrastructure currently orbiting Earth. In addition, it could prevent collisions that will result in even more space debris.

"The MWA was designed to be the most powerful low frequency radio telescope in the Southern Hemisphere and this was our chance to test its capabilities," said Tingay in a news release. "Prior to undertaking the study we had calculated how strong we expected the signals to be using simulations and theory. The measurements we took as part of the study were spot on in agreement with our calculations. This an excellent result and bodes well for the other MWA science projects that are currently underway--including the most detailed study to date of the Epoch of Reionization, the first billion years after the Big Bang."

The findings are huge for better tracking space junk. This could help with future space missions and could inform research in new studies.