Earth orbit is becoming increasingly crowded. With over 11 000 active satellites and many thousands more expected in the coming years as well as over 1.2 million pieces of space debris greater than 1 cm, the risk of in-orbit collisions has turned into a daily operational concern. ESA is investing in automation technologies that can help satellite operators respond more effectively to collision risks.
“We’ll just dodge stuff forever!” - Humanity’s plan on dealing with exponentially increasing space junk.
“We’ll deploy satellite constellations of thousands to tens of thousands so people can talk on their cellphones in the middle of the ocean” - Humanity’s plan on reducing satellites in orbit, which is the major cause of space junk.
As long as the constellations aren’t deployed above ~600 km (*glares at Guowang*), they shouldn’t pose a long-term debris risk.
You’re not wrong, but many of the satellites are dual use and would be up for the military anyways, because not having them or not having access to them means being vulnerable.
I think cleaning space junk up is more viable than finally achieving a stable world peace, as humans historically never had a single day without an overlapping armed conflict in > 6000 years. It’s sad, but war is kinda our thing.