Allow civilian salvage operations to "de-orbit" the stuff and pay them for what they bring softly to earth.
It's so simple, even Sheriff Taylor can do it.
Posted on 08/18/2026 5:00:51 AM PDT by MtnClimber
There is only so much capacity in space for objects; a cleanup is critical and overdue.
Satellites bring to mind images of shiny, angular objects orbiting Earth at tremendous speed through the boundless emptiness of space. Yet the orbits are no longer empty. Besides traffic, they are teeming with debris from spacecraft breaking up because of age, explosions, or collisions.
Orbital debris has doubled over the past decade. As of 2026, about 1.2 million objects measuring 1–10 cm are in orbit. Traveling at speeds of 7–8 km per second—10 times that of a bullet and 4–5 times that of the fastest planes—these objects can disable or destroy spacecraft. Without debris management, this growing danger to expensive space projects remains unchecked.
Two companies—ClearSpace and Astroscale—have approached the U.K. Space Agency to demonstrate active debris removal (ADR). ClearSpace has conducted two ADR missions for the agency. Last year, Astroscale received a U.S. patent for its 2021 filing for a cleanup system. Both companies are competing for a contract to remove two defunct British satellites from orbit.
But such nascent efforts are meager. They will not reach meaningful scale unless a binding international legal framework with clear protocols, impartial, well-coordinated monitoring, and enforceable liabilities is established. The current regime is wholly inadequate.
To understand how more than a million man-made fragments came to orbit Earth, consider the number of satellites, the stresses they endure, and the high probability of collisions. Space warfare, a possibility, may add to the problem; but even discounting that, we are creating more debris than we can handle.
Of the four major gravitational orbits, the two most populated are the Low Earth Orbit (LEO), 60–2,000 km above Earth, where satellites complete an orbit in 90–120 minutes; and the Geosynchronous or Geostationary Orbit (GEO), roughly 35,800 km above the Equator
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
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The Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites have collisions with outer gas molecules in the atmosphere. It is not much, but over time the LEO satellites and space junk will slow down and burn up on reentry. But it will take many years and depends on the orbital altitude.
A new hazard?
“SpaceX’s mega constellations and the ozone layer risks”
https://youtu.be/oKK0dgDIxKY?is=yv-9y2l9r8npue-c
Isn’t this what happened to SKYLAB?
It ended up burning up in low earth orbit and came down over the Indian Ocean and Australia.
Yes, that is what happened to Skylab.
If it lands in the ocean no problem, on land, you have fires like the dinosaurs saw.
There used to be an image of the debris in orbit. Used to be monitored for launch windows and probably still is. Elon? Got a big net?
Around 1961, I read a comic book that predicted the formation of a space junk zone that would put an end to space exploration by blocking access to space.
Not accurate.
“Yeah. That’s the ticket. Get a bunch of politicians and bureaucrats involved to reach clear protocols and impartial liabilities.”
And, dump billions/trilllions into private hands to study the problem.
Crisis! Quick! Panic! Stop US Launches! Open borders, abortion up until birth, and antisemitism are still okay though.😆
Pretty much so.
Any object orbiting at a specific distance from the center of the Earth is orbiting the exact same velocity as any other object at that distance from the center of the Earth.
I’ve seen enough video in from the Space Shuttle. Everything moves real SLOW up there and there isn’t any junk. So why worry about?
(kind of like the Flock Apologists - I haven’t been questioned or arrested for doing something presently illegal, so why should I care if the government can now track my movements without a warrant)
LEO is still absurdly empty in absolute terms. Even with a million or so objects, the density is still far below “parts per million” (more like parts per billion).
And most importantly we track almost everything to provide a launch window and trajectory before a launch (I worked at NORAD and Space Command for many years).
Yes, the LEO band is getting crowded, but it’s not like the 405 on a work afternoon at 5 pm. It’s still very much a rural highway.
I like the idea of companies cleaning up LEO, we need to start doing that anyways, and I believe we will. Elon is not going to just let his stuff get mashed up in a collision.
Sometimes the atmosphere can expand in scores of miles. This is referred to as atmospheric drag. Atmospheric drag can sometimes be our friendly janitor! It pulls the debris down to burnup like a shooting star. This is especially true for the LEO band.
Just imagine what a larger piece of debris would do traveling at those speeds.
Hint: I have a degree in Physics, and still make use of it everyday in my work. You are preaching to the choir.
Allow civilian salvage operations to "de-orbit" the stuff and pay them for what they bring softly to earth.
It's so simple, even Sheriff Taylor can do it.
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