Over the last few years, a solution has evolved for the growing problem with space debris and the number of satellites damaged or destroyed by tiny bits of orbiting space junk. While there has never been complete cooperation between the nations putting the most satellites into orbit, there has been growing willingness to share some data about space debris.
There are a growing number of satellites in orbit and most of them are commercial, not military. While the military sats seek to conceal their location, and often move around a lot to do that, the more numerous commercial communications, scientific and observation satellites don’t. The more numerous clouds of space debris have become a growing threat, especially to satellites that cannot move. The solution was the development of better analytic and graphic tools that enable commercial satellite operators predict where the growing number of debris swarms are and how that data changes over time.
It’s the latest StrategyPage Space update. The update includes a discussion of the Space Fence Surveillance System Radar on Kwajalein Atoll.