the video game launched by CNES to raise awareness of the problem of space waste

The occupation of space by active or out-of-service satellites is a growing problem. Even small, debris remains formidable projectiles.

CNES, the national center for space studies and the World Game studio have just launched, Monday February 26, “Orbital Dance”, “Danse Orbitale” in French, a video game to raise awareness among the general public of the risks caused by space debris. It can be downloaded to a laptop or computer, and is available for free on Apple Store and Play Store. This game allows you to find yourself at the controls of an orbiting satellite which encounters different planets and space debris. The goal is obviously to avoid them. To do this, it is possible, as the game progresses, to use different technologies inspired by the real world: capture nets, shielding, or an anti-collision system. In accordance with French law on space operations, deorbiting your satellite at the end of its life so that it disintegrates and is not a danger to others also earns points.

The occupation of space by active or out-of-service satellites is a growing problem. In the future this will also become a political or geopolitical question, hence the importance of citizen awareness, explains Pierre Omaly, project manager at CNES and specialist in space surveillance. A total of 17,500 satellites have been placed in orbit over the past 70 years. They provide us with services to establish communications, orient ourselves, observe the earth, monitor the climate. Today, only a little more than half are active, the others have mostly disintegrated, but 3,500 of them continue to rotate and constitute space debris. Some have already broken up into several thousand pieces following collisions. For 20 years, experts have deplored one accidental collision per month on average.

Each explosion generates new debris

Today there are more than 35,000 objects larger than 10 cm in orbit, there are a million measuring between 1 and 10 cm. Even small, they are formidable projectiles because they advance at eight km/second. Satellites are certainly designed to avoid them as much as possible, but not all of them are detectable. Each explosion generates new debris. In short, it’s an exponential problem.

France was the first country in the world to legislate to limit space debris, and normally decommissioned satellites must be programmed to leave their orbit and disintegrate. Unfortunately international regulations are not binding, and therefore not always respected. Hence the importance of citizen awareness, especially since beyond the clutter of space, this space debris poses another problem: they also hinder the work of observing the sky by astronomers.