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https://theconversation.com/there-are-already-16-000-satellites-in-earths-orbit-how-will-we-manage-the-next-100-000-284829>
"Earth’s orbit is getting crowded.
About 16,000 satellites currently circle our planet, supporting everything from
GPS navigation and weather forecasting to banking, emergency services and
internet communications.
Dozens more are launched every few weeks. Some estimates suggest the total
number of satellites could exceed 100,000 within this decade, with more
conservative estimates landing on up to 60,000 satellites by 2030 – still a
staggering amount.
This rapid growth is creating an important challenge. How do we safely manage
an increasingly crowded orbital environment while ensuring the satellites we
depend on continue to work reliably?
The risks are not difficult to imagine. Large satellite constellations increase
light pollution and other disruptions to astronomy and the night sky. More
satellites mean more traffic, a greater chance of collisions and an increasing
amount of space debris.
In a worst-case scenario, space debris can cause a runaway chain reaction known
as Kessler syndrome, which would ensconce Earth in a cloud of debris and render
its orbit unusable, without the ability to launch satellites or any other space
missions.
Even short of this, ageing or damaged satellites can become hazards if they
stop working, collide with other objects, or eventually make uncontrolled
re-entries through the atmosphere.
This raises a practical question – satellites can’t simply be brought home for
repairs. So how do we maintain tens of thousands of machines that are hundreds
of kilometres above Earth?"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
