• Home
  • Nobody owns the orbit everyone depends on
Science

Nobody owns the orbit everyone depends on

Low Earth orbit is filling up faster than any single regulator can manage, and the cost of a collision is shared by everyone.

Orbital debris
0
0 / 5 (0 ratings)
1055
1 Person is viewing right now
Quick summary
  • Orbital slots are allocated nationally while the consequences of crowding them are global.
  • That mismatch is the whole problem.A shared cost, private benefitEach new constellation is individually rational and collectively expensive.
  • A single fragmentation event raises the risk for every operator, including ones that never launched anything.Disposal is the weak linkEnd-of-life deorbiting is improving but remains voluntary in practice, and the satellites already up there were not designed with it in mind.
1 min left
Table of Contents

    Orbital slots are allocated nationally while the consequences of crowding them are global. That mismatch is the whole problem.

    A shared cost, private benefit

    Each new constellation is individually rational and collectively expensive. A single fragmentation event raises the risk for every operator, including ones that never launched anything.

    Disposal is the weak link

    End-of-life deorbiting is improving but remains voluntary in practice, and the satellites already up there were not designed with it in mind.

    Read This Also The replication that quietly overturned a decade of advice

    How do you feel about this article?

    Sign in to react — Login

    Lena Marsh

    Lena Marsh

    @reporter
    6 Posts
    0
    0 ★

    Covers technology, research funding and the people behind both.

    Comments 0

    Join the discussion below

    Please Log in to join the discussion.
    Loading comments...
    Author

    More from this author

    Latest stories by Lena Marsh

    View all

    Recommended For You