Every day, national security satellites protect us from strategic surprise; GPS signals help us navigate our world and keep our bank transactions flowing smoothly; commercial communications satellites give us internet on the go and more. And the space industry here and abroad has barely scratched the surface of what’s possible.
But unless we change our current trajectory, we’re setting ourselves up for a space traffic jam that will literally trap us on Earth. That’s because sometimes satellite paths cross, like cars at an intersection. These “conjunctions” can result in catastrophic collisions—and produce massive amounts of potentially dangerous debris. This is no longer a problem of tomorrow. It’s already beginning.
Kerry Buckley, vice president, Air & Space Forces, MITRE National Security Sector, analyzes the problem and offers solutions in her recent op-ed in Aerospace America, the publication of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.