In an effort to raise awareness of the growing space debris issue, new “star signs” composed of abandoned satellites and leftover rocket components have been discovered above Earth.

The concept, named Space Trash Signs, is the outcome of cooperation between the German design firm Moby Digg, the visual artist Frank Gräfe, the space sustainability company Privateer, and the communication agency Serviceplan Innovation. A specialized website, stargazing applications, and a special presentation that is screened in planetariums across the globe allow users to explore the space trash constellations.

The project’s objective, according to a statement from the authors, is to raise awareness of the expanding space debris issue in advance of a June meeting of the United Nations Committee of the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, which will address the steps required to maintain order in the space surrounding Earth.

These constellations are not visible from Earth, in contrast to their more well-known star constellations. Instead, they were assembled using actual space debris tracking data gathered by Privateer. The constellations actually only lasted a split second since space debris is traveling at roughly 17,000 miles per hour (27,359 kilometers per hour) around Earth.

Each constellation’s nodes can be clicked to see details about the debris object that comprises it, such as its name, size range, and anticipated cost of orbital clearance.

The constellations were chosen to draw attention to the space debris problem’s most dire effects. For instance, the Broken Compass, which was observed over Bermuda in January 2023, illustrates the harm that space debris could do to global positioning and navigational satellites, such as the European Galileo or the American GPS, should they come into contact with them.

In a similar vein, The Great 404, seen over West Africa in February 2023, represents the consequences of destroying internet-beaming satellites that link remote people around the globe. The Unavailable Forecast, which was seen over India in April 2023, represents the uncertainty that might arise if all of the world’s weather satellites were lost. The set consists of ten constellations in total.

The head scientist of Privateer, Moriba Jah, stated in the statement that “there are some internationally agreed upon guidelines on debris clean-up and prevention, but none of these mechanisms has enforceability.” “If we don’t change our behavior, space will become unusable.”

At now, Earth is orbited by almost 160 million particles of space debris created by humans. These objects range in size from microscopic fragments created in collisions between larger objects to entire former satellites and used rocket stages. The probability of orbital accidents is sharply increasing due to the increasing number of satellites in orbit, which is being driven by the introduction of tiny satellites and internet-beaming networks like SpaceX’s Starlink.

The bigger issue is that smaller debris pieces’ positions and trajectories are unknown, and their strikes usually occur as a complete surprise. Satellites can navigate using their thrusters to avoid collisions.

Experts are concerned that if precautions aren’t taken, like clearing out bigger debris pieces, space around Earth may end up totally useless. The increasing number of accidents may result in the Kessler syndrome, which was initially foreseen in the late 1970s by former NASA physicist Donald Kessler.

In essence, Kessler syndrome is an uncontrollable cascade of collisions wherein pieces from each new contact generate more impacts, leading to even more fragments and collisions.