A 36-year sweep of orbital debris has found the solar threshold where Earth’s upper atmosphere starts pulling space junk down faster, just as mega-constellations crowd low orbit

A 36-year sweep of orbital debris has found the solar threshold where Earth’s upper atmosphere starts pulling space junk down faster, just as mega-constellations crowd low orbit

Solar Cycle 25 has already reached its solar maximum period, and a new long-term study of orbital debris points to a practical warning for the satellite age: once sunspot numbers climb past roughly two-thirds to three-quarters of a cycle’s peak, debris in low Earth orbit can begin losing altitude much faster. That does not mean the Sun flips a neat on-off switch. It means the drag environment around Earth becomes harder to treat as a smooth aver…