4 ms·
That makes a big assumption we can't remove the junk before the density is high enough
by charlesju 6y ago
That makes a big assumption we can't remove the junk before the density is high enough
- btilly 6y agoIt is worthy of note that SpaceX is pitching Starship for active debris removal in space. It is worthy of note from https://spacenews.com/upper-stages-top-list-of-most-dangerous-space-debris/ https://spacenews.com/upper-stages-top-list-of-most-dangerou... that in a list of the 50 most concerning objects in orbit, 78% are rocket bodies, and 80% were launched before 2000 when various mitigation strategies for space junk began to be improved. There is therefore a Pareto principle at work here. We are tracking over 25,000 objects, but only a few of them contribute most of the risk, and we aren't adding as much to the risk as the number of launches would make you think.