Space Junk (Space Debris) - The amount of trash in Earth orbit, from spent rocket stages, broken satellites and micrometeoroids, is growing. Scientists are working on methods to combat the threat of space junk and orbital debris collisions.
How many satellites into space?
As of January 3rd 2024, the satellite tracking lists 8,377 active satellites in various Earth orbits right now, with over 4,000 launched by SpaceX as part of its Starlink megaconstellation and a smaller contribution by OneWeb, which had flown a total of 582 satellites into orbit by early March. By the time 2030 rolls in, more than 100,000 satellites are expected to crowd low Earth orbit, according to a report by Astronomy Magazine's Nathaniel Scharping.ย
Five or 10 years from now 2023, we'll have somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 satellites, and I am very skeptical that at the upper number of 100,000 things can be operated safely,
#23143 In the next decade or earlier, we'll have somewhere between 20,000 and 100,000 satellites, and I am extremely skeptical that at the upper number of 50,000 things can be operated safely,
It's going to be like an interstate highway in a rush hour in a snowstorm with everyone driving extremely fast.
Today, 11.3.2023 there are about 2,100 active satellites orbit Earth today, out of about 23,000 orbiting objects that have been cataloged (inactive satellites, rocket stages, space debris, among others).