I think something that most people don’t comprehend is just how HUGE space is. For context, at 550km orbit, the “surface area” of the sphere surrounding the ear

I think something that most people don’t comprehend is just how HUGE space is. For context, at 550km orbit, the “surface area” of the sphere surrounding the earth is ~601 BILLION square kilometers. Suppose we had 40,000 (double the number of objects larger than a softball we have been tracking) objects up there, in that exact orbit, we would still only have one object every 15 MILLION square miles. So, while it is a valid concern... until we put up “millions” of items, I think astronomers will be pretty safe. However, orbital debris avoidance... much bigger issue.