#Earth orbit skin

So, instead of paying for a massive rocket to place your satellite into the precise orbit you need, you can save money by having space Uber pick it up at a central location and move it into position. Space TugboatsДenver-based Atomos SpaceвЂ™s planned Orbital Transfer Vehicle will move freshly launched satellites to their final destinations. Since March 2021, itвЂ™s been testing the first commercial spacecraft designed to capture and dispose of space junk. subsidiary is based in Denver, wants to change that. Astroscale, a Japanese company whose U.S. ItвЂ™s often easier to leave an obsolete satellite in space than it is to safely deorbit it (read: burn it up high in the atmosphere). Photo courtesy of Astroscale Garbage Disposal Helping the United States play sheriff is a priority for HickenlooperвЂ™s subcommittee, but until that happens, these Colorado companies are working on practical ways to make low Earth orbit safer, cleaner, and more organized. Elon MuskвЂ™s rocket company, SpaceX, for example, is building a network, known as a megaconstellation, of some 40,000 satellites to beam the internet around the globe, and there are several equally massive projects in the works.

#Earth orbit skin

вЂњAt the velocity that this debris is moving,вЂќ Hickenlooper says, вЂњeven a piece the size of a flake of paint off your wall can pierce the skin of the International Space Station.вЂќ ThatвЂ™s nothing compared with whatвЂ™s coming.

By some estimates, more than half of all satellites are defunct, and some 27,000 pieces of debris over four inches in size are circling the planet. In fact, it has become so easy to reach that, without any space police, itвЂ™s slowly turning into a junkyard. Low Earth orbit-the region from around 100 to 1,200 miles above the ground-is virtually lawless.

Low Earth orbit will soon be home to tens of thousands of satellites-and that could be a huge problem.