Space Debris Bombarding Earth: What Are the Chances of a Human Dying From Satellite Debris.

Space debris is becoming an increasingly significant problem for astronomers and people, but the chances of it falling to Earth are very small. According to BBC Science Focus, incidents of damage or injury from space debris are rare. Numerous satellites orbit Earth, and their number increases each year, which could lead to the fall of space debris.

Most space debris burns up in the atmosphere, not reaching the Earth's surface. Even large objects, such as rocket stages, rarely cause damage. Over the last 50 years, there has been one instance of space debris falling to Earth every day, but this has not resulted in loss of life or serious injuries.

Space debris primarily consists of small fragments, such as shards or pieces of plastic. The height from which it falls does not significantly impact the damage caused. Objects falling from a height of 300 km reach their terminal velocity before impact, so they are no more dangerous than debris falling from a height of 10 km.

Due to the random distribution of space debris, it only covers 0.0002% of the Earth's area. This means that even if every fragment were lethal, its chance of hitting an inhabited area is only 0.0002%. In other words, only after 1300 years could a death from falling space debris occur. Even the threat of an asteroid collision is more likely than falling space debris.

CNEOS constantly tracks thousands of asteroids to assess potential risks. Although collisions with large objects are rare, research helps identify potential threats.

It is also worth noting that the fall of Chinese space debris to Earth caused mysterious streaks of light over California, USA.