The April 19 launch of 6 classified [Chinese] satellites into Sun-synchronous orbit via a Long March 6A rocket has reinforced concerns over long-lived space debris. The mission’s upper stage was left in a 834 by 990 km orbit—where atmospheric drag is minimal & natural deorbiting could take over a century. https://spacenews.com/china-report-debris-risks-startup-funding-and-previewing-space-day/

While Shiyan-27 was a standalone mission, the use of rockets such as the Long March 6A and Long March 8 series for China’s two, 10,000-plus satellite megaconstellations could mean a proliferation of such debris. “There will be some 1,000+ PRC [People’s Republic of China] launches over the next several years deploying these constellations,” says Jim Shell, a space domain awareness and orbital debris expert at Novarum Tech. “For both constellations, the rocket upper stages are being left in high altitude orbits—generally with orbital lifetimes greater than 100 years.”
___

Space is a World-wide commons. And we need to protect it from the #KesslerSyndrome before it's too late and space is permanently cut off to humanity.

This replication of function in multiple mega constellations of satellites all serving the same purpose is bonkers.

Low orbit satellite network and the Kessler syndrome just another a threat to world economy, defense, money market...
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/-hxCOrm-Nk4

Move along. nothing to see here... just every modern nation competing with their satellite coverage

Space News

What we already know, but an
ESA Report Says There's Too Much Junk in Earth Orbit (via Science alert.com)

The problem of debris in Earth orbit is getting worse.

The amount of space debris is rising quickly. We're sending satellites up at a much faster rate than they come down.

Read more:
https://www.sciencealert.com/esa-report-says-theres-too-much-junk-in-earth-orbit-trunk

#space
#kesslersyndrome
#esa
#starlink

#KesslerSyndrome here we come! https://techcentral.co.za/amazon-first-kuiper-satellites-starlink/261860/

"With over 34,000 large debris pieces in orbit and millions of smaller fragments, the threat of collisions and the #KesslerSyndrome looms large. International cooperation, stringent regulations, and technological solutions are proposed to address the crisis, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive global framework to ensure #SpaceSustainability for future generations."

https://intpolicydigest.org/the-platform/space-has-become-a-trash-dump-and-that-s-a-problem/

Low orbit online shopping infrastructure turns out to have a downside. Unchecked capitalism is now raining down on our heads from space, in smoking chunks.

Unfortunately the rent-seekers at SpringerNature have captured this useful information but enough is still visible to be better than nothing (experts, please publish where institutional privilege isn't a barrier to informing the rest of us).

#OrbitalDebris
#KesslerSyndrome
#OrbitalShoppingInfrastructure

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-00797-7

@HarriettMB
I have nightmares about #KesslerSyndrome.

The US is more reliant on satellite technology for war than any other country. Not only will this make it difficult, if not impossible, to launch anything for generations, it will interfere with our military's use of satellite communications with a layer of reflective trash encircling the planet.

Not counting property damage and dead people on the ground from launch debris crashing back to earth across the globe.

Not counting the same from larger pieces of space trash de-orbiting when the breakup begins.

Read this. Elon Musk is actively destroying our country with the blessing of the Russian-controlled Republican party and its gangster god.

Democrats are playing gotcha games with actual, living and breathing, domestic enemies of the Constitution.

There are no patriots in uniform with bars on their chests in this corporation of would-be slave owners masquerading as a country. But there sure are a lot of angry people with guns. The enraged voters I saw in videos of town hall meetings displayed more courage to speak truth to power than any general or admiral with the ability to stop this in an instant has once displayed in this crisis.

Pick the goddamned instant and make it snappy, or there won't be allies left to help. There will be fascists barking orders dictated by the Kremlin, as relayed through its American stooges.

https://mastodon.social/@sundogplanets/114072177533598202

Source: Big Think - September 28, 2023

From the article: "As of today in 2023, however, there are nearly 9000 active satellites, with active Starlinks making up the overwhelming majority of them: 4755 out of the 8647 active satellites, or 55% of them. While media coverage has largely focused on only one detrimental effect so far — the damage that these satellites have already caused and are still causing to astronomy — there’s a second consequence that could be even more disastrous over the long-term: Kessler syndrome. With tens or even hundreds of thousands of satellites in orbit, a single collision could trigger a chain reaction. With the realities of solar flares, coronal mass ejections, and other forms of space weather, the era of mega-constellations may usher in a new type of natural disaster, making Earth’s orbit impassable to all future space-based missions."

#Starlink #KesslerSyndrome #Satellites #Astronomy #SpaceExploration

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/musk-starlink-satellites-kessler-syndrome/

"'It's a very difficult problem to communicate to the general public. It's not like an oil spill, where the pelicans are dying. It's not visceral. There's debris you can show them through a telescope. But it's just a dot.'"

https://www.cnet.com/home/internet/features/the-triumphs-and-troubles-of-the-7000-starlink-satellites-crowding-our-night-skies/

https://www.europesays.com/1722405/ Kessler Syndrome: How space junk endangers Earth’s orbit: All you need to know about ‘Kessler Syndrome’ #CleanupTechnology #EuropeanSpaceAgency #InternationalSpaceStation #KesslerSyndrome #nasa #OrbitalCongestion #SatelliteCollisions #space #SpaceDebris #SpaceExploration #SpaceJunk

https://www.europesays.com/1720576/ We may be heading towards a space disaster. Here’s why #EuropeanSpaceAgency #InternationalSpaceStation #KesslerSyndrome #LowEarthOrbitDebris #nasa #SatelliteCollisions #space #SpaceCongestion #SpaceDebris

Space Station keeps dodging debris from China’s 2007 weapon test
—The Washington Post

"The high-altitude explosion created an estimated 3,500 pieces of debris, according to records maintained by the U.S. Space Force; most of them are still in orbit. They get slightly closer to the atmosphere with each pass, but an analysis shortly after the event predicted it would take more than 100 years for the debris to hit the atmosphere and largely burn up"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/12/23/iss-space-junk-satellite-china-us/