In 2023, there were 211 successful orbital launches worldwide—98 by SpaceX, a record it matched in 2024. Vandenberg Space Force Base set a record 51 launches in 2024, with projections to double in 2025. While promoted as a national security necessity, most of these launches are commercial.
As SpaceX accelerates launches off the Central Coast, a hidden crisis is unfolding—pollution from rockets and space debris. Despite warnings since 1990, no global regulations exist, leaving the final frontier vulnerable to unchecked environmental damage.
Space is becoming dangerously crowded. More than 11,000 satellites currently orbit Earth, with numbers set to soar. When old satellites burn up on reentry, they release metal particles, including ozone-depleting aluminum oxide. Starlink alone contributes 40 percent of this space junk, with daily reentries worsening the problem.
Reusable rockets reduce waste, but their upper stages—each weighing 4 tons—burn up on reentry, releasing pollutants into the upper atmosphere. Atmospheric scientist Connor Barker estimates that megaconstellation launches already account for 12 percent of the space industry’s ozone depletion, a figure set to rise.
Without oversight, commercial space activity risks causing lasting harm to Earth’s atmosphere. Urgent action is needed.
Jill Stegman
Grover Beach
This article appears in Mar 27 – Apr 6, 2025.