Documentary filmmaker OP Srivastava on ‘The Dirty Sky,’ which tracks the rise of space debris since the 2009 satellite collision, warning that space, not quite infinite, is turning into a trash trap
In February 2009, an unprecedented drama unfolded in outer space. A brand-new American commercial satellite, Iridium, collided, all of a sudden, with a defunct 900-kg Russian military satellite, Kosmos 2251, at an altitude of 790 km above northern Siberia. Both satellites shattered into thousands of fragments, which went flying in different directions.
This collision shook the space community, as the problem of space junk had now become impossible to ignore. In 2010, some experts estimated that 17,000 large pieces of debris were orbiting the earth. That number has since burgeoned to 45,000 or more, ranging in size from a speck of paint to a school bus, and zooming around earth at speeds of up to 18,000 miles per hour.
Secure, sustainable use of space
Space debris can emanate from collisions, or it may consist of dead satellites, pieces of spacecraft and rocket bodies, etc. This particular collision, however, compelled countries and space companies around the world to wake up to the growing challenge and dangers posed by space trash. In addition to colliding with functioning, full-bodied satellites — potentially disrupting communications or essential GPS services on earth — space junk eventually can re-enter the atmosphere, land on the rooftops of your house, and even crash right into your bedrooms.
Mumbai-based banker-turned-filmmaker OP Srivastava
The Dirty Sky exhaustively discusses this “alarming crisis” caused by the uncontrolled accumulation of space debris. Created by Mumbai-based banker-turned-filmmaker OP Srivastava (whose biopic on Kannada director Girish Kasaravalli won a National Award in 2015), the documentary, which will be screened at the Bangalore International Centre this weekend, maintains a straightforward tone while also debating why governments and space firms continue to brush the issue under the carpet.
In a conversation with The Federal, Srivastava, who is travelling with the film to raise awareness about freeing space of trash, says, “We intrinsically believe space is infinite and limitless, so we keep sending hundreds of satellites and creating junk up there, assuming that it will not affect us. But slowly, it is dawning on people that satellites have a finite life. Some may have been dead for years or months. One expert in my film says that only 7 percent of the satellites in space are functioning. Now, that is unbelievable and shocking.” This figure is provided in the film by a spokesperson from the US-based Secure World Foundation, which works for the secure and sustainable use of outer space.
Srivastava believes there is a reason why governments and corporations are not seriously tackling this crisis and there is a lack of transparency. “While making this film, I realised there’s another dimension to this issue. A majority of the satellites are spy satellites. That’s why people don’t want to talk about it because these satellites are meant for spying on each other.”
Technological solutions
Srivastava continues, “China is spying on the USA, or the USA is spying on Russia, and then you realise it’s a strategic issue related to defence. Besides, even as my film questions who is responsible for removing space junk, we know people are reluctant to spend money or work out a business model to make space sustainable. They rather take tourists to space and make money but disregard the havoc they are leaving behind.”
The documentary, which is a collation of creative videos and hi-tech images from international space agencies, non-profit organisations and individuals involved in sustainable use of space, and interspersed with interviews with experts, essentially highlights the exponential rise in non-functional satellites and the severe threats they pose to future space missions, and global communications.
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After establishing that no part of the planet is out of reach today due to satellites in space, Srivastava’s The Dirty Sky delves into the extent of space junk with terrifying and telling visuals and footage. It explores the technological solutions being examined today by experts to remove space debris as well, which ranges from laser-based deflections, robotic arms to space tugs and fishing nets.
Four major collisions since 2009
Interestingly, the film also shows clips of Nobu Okada, founder and CEO of the Singapore-based company Astroscale, which specialises in technologies for capturing and de-orbiting space junk. Watch out for how he describes the technology they use to remove junk from orbit. “Seven years down the line, we will be constantly sweeping away debris in space,” says Okada on a positive note.
The key question that the film throws up is this: Who is to clean up after humans storm space to exploit it for its own benefit? “It’s like the wild, wild west out there right now,” says one expert. As thousands of satellites are being launched every year, the orbit lanes are only getting more crowded with existing space junk still swirling around.
Space scientist Moriba Jah, a professor of Aerospace Engineering and Engineering Mechanics at the University of Texas at Austin, who appears in the film, believes these orbit lanes will soon become unusable. “There have been four major collisions since the February 2009 one. With so much debris, it will soon become almost impossible for spaceflights to use low earth orbit lanes,” cautions Jah, who tracks satellites and debris in space and works in the area of Space Situational Awareness and Space Traffic Management.
One of the legal experts in the film perfectly explains the situation in space thus: “Just imagine if car owners driving their vehicles on a highway just abandon their cars on the highway and walk away after all the fuel is used up. That’s how it is in space right now with defunct satellites and it is perfectly legal to do that.”
India's contribution is unclear
The Dirty Sky also devotes time to debate the complete lack of regulations governing space debris. The UN may have issued space sustainability guidelines and there is even an Outer Space Treaty signed by 107 countries. However, no one is really paying heed to the regulations.
Srivastava says, “Instead, there is a lot of distrust among the countries. US commandos suspect Russia has nesting satellites loaded with offensive weapons and they worry that China has developed a robotic arm that can grab other satellites in space and pluck them away.”
But in this grand, messy opera playing out in space, the European Union and countries like the UK and Japan have started to get their act together and are actively exploring ways to remove space debris, experts say.
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“There are technological solutions in the pipeline but they are all in the experimental stage it seems,” says Srivastava. Replying to a question on why India does not seem to figure here at all, Srivastava says, “India’s contribution in this domain is not clear. Either they don’t want to talk about it or it is insignificant.”
Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) refused to talk to him and neither did the international experts mention any work coming out of India in this space. However, he highlights the work done by a Bengaluru-based space tech company, Digantara, which features in the film.
A still from The Dirty Sky
“They are doing some exciting work to offer business solutions to track space debris and provide alerts about satellite collisions in the future to satellite firms,” shares Srivastava. Organisations such as the United States Space Force currently monitor satellites and debris in space, along with NASA and the Department of Defense.
A chain reaction
In the film, which leaves you fixing a fearful eye toward the sky, there is a warning about the “cascading” effect of colliding satellites that spew debris, which go on to hit another functioning satellite, which, in turn, generates more debris clouds, and so on.
“Space debris can then multiply and grow exponentially. They can also drop on earth as I have shown in my film. A piece from Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 dropped on a farm in Australia, which was also confirmed by the Australian space agency. In India, too, a few days ago, an unidentified object from the sky fell on the terrace of a house in Nagpur, triggering discussions if it was space junk. Reports said it could be a part of a rocket booster of a satellite,” says Srivastava.
It took Srivastava three years of research and one year of collating, editing and other post-production work to create an absorbing linear narrative. Space agencies like ESA and NASA were extremely helpful and gave him the permission to use their videos and images and guided him to international experts working in this field.
After making the film, Srivastava is worried that with no binding global agreements, no profitable business model to incentivise space debris clean-up, the world is on the brink of a catastrophic chain reaction that could cripple space exploration and disrupt global connectivity.
“I am taking this film next to Delhi colleges; IIT Kanpur and IIT Mumbai, too, are interested. It is my mission to spread this message; it is my duty to future generations,” says this filmmaker, who remains committed to making movies with a cause.
