‘Megaconstellation’ satellite systems, such as SpaceX’s Starlink and China’s Qianfan project, will be responsible for nearly half of all air pollution from the space sector by 2030, University College London (UCL) researchers have said.
As of early May 2026, there are over 10,000 active Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit, easily the largest system of its type so far. While China’s Qianfan has only launched 504 so far, and Amazon’s Project Kuiper only 300, they are aiming for around 15,000 and 3,236 orbiting satellites respectively to complete the constellations.
But a combination of rocket launches, and pollution caused by dead satellites falling back to Earth, is quickly racking up to be the space sectors’ largest individual source of air pollution.
The UCL team said the black carbon, or soot, that is generated from these sources lingers in the upper atmosphere far longer than that from ground-based sources, resulting in a 500-fold greater impact on the climate.
They used data from...