Space Trash Signs

There are over 160 million pieces of human-made space debris. Despite this, plans are underway to launch over 10,000 new satellites in the coming years. There are no legally binding regulations for space debris management due to a lack of global consensus. The current situation is rapidly heading towards Kessler Syndrome: the cascading of collisions in the orbit which would effectively destroy all functional satellites and completely block access to space. However, the public doesn’t understand the danger because space debris is not visible from Earth.

Since the beginning of time, humans have looked up to the sky for meaning, and this act led to the formation of constellations as a way of understanding stars. Expanding on this insight, we wanted to make space pollution understood by people all over the world.

An AI model was used to scan debris data to identify ten new constellations, each one representing a different impact of space pollution. For example: The Broken Compass signifies the loss of navigation services; The Lost Harvest, visualized as a dying plant, stands for the loss of environmental data; The End of Discovery, in the shape of a stop sign, represents the end of space exploration.

Space Trash Signs were brought to life through a web-based virtual observatory, integration into AR apps, and an immersive planetarium experience. The campaign was promoted through contextual placements in apps and websites that would be affected by space pollution.

Space Trash Signs was launched with the goal of increasing public awareness and engagement in time for the UN meeting on space pollution in spring 2024. Space Trash Signs has gained support from global astronomical society Astronomers Without Borders and several sustainable aerospace actors including the European Space Agency, Astroscale from Japan & UK, OKAPI: Orbits from Germany, Dark from France, and Digantara from India.