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Isn't LEO _literally_ crowded? I thought space junk was a real concern at this point, and a bunch of other crappy LEO satellite launches will exacerbate this h

• lxgr 2y ago
  In terms of satellites, yes, very. In terms of independent operators, not so much. If Starlink goes down or ceases operations in a given region or to a given customer, there are few alternatives right now.
• sgtnoodle 2y ago
  Crowded? No. Littered? Perhaps, depending on the altitude. The article you linked says the bulk of the existing debris is from a few isolated incidents. These satellites are generally low enough tha their orbits decay after a couple years if they don't boost themselves, and then they burn up in the atmosphere.
• MostlyStable 2y ago
  Space junk is actually much _less_ of a concern in LEO because it's low enough that stuff de-orbits on it's own relatively quickly, so you don't get the long term accumulation that you can get in higher orbits
• cryptonector 2y ago
  u/lxgr was referring to the business being crowded/not-crowded, not LEO itself.