Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Frequent deployment of satellites and re-entries by the rockets that deploy them might pose a risk to the Earth's upper atmosphere and environment, a German study published Thursday indicates.
As more rockets exit and re-enter the Earth's upper atmosphere, they leave behind lithium atoms and space debris that German researchers said could cause harm.
The researchers detected 10 times more lithium atoms than normal in the upper atmosphere some 20 hours after a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper-stage rocket made an uncontrolled re-entry a year ago, lead author Robin Wing said in an article published on Thursday in the Communications Earth & Environment journal.
"This study presents the first measurement of upper-atmospheric pollution resulting from space debris re-entry and the first observational evidence that the ablation of space debris can be detected by ground-based lidar," the study said.
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