P.E. | President & Founder Spacefaring Institute LLC - Charting America's path spaceward! ™
Space debris is a very serious issue that threatens American national security, America's future national clean energy security (space solar power), and America's future as a true human spacefaring nation. Space debris is just one example of multiple serious national space policy issues that need to be addressed by the new presidential administration and its new National Space Council. I am working to begin a new LinkedIn newsletter, "Spaceward", to raise awareness of such issues, foster discission, and propose legal, regulatory, and policy solutions. How can you now help? On the Spacefaring Institute page, please follow that page to help get this newsletter started. My many thanks, Mike Snead, PE
Last month, a major communications satellite in geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) suffered some form of "anomaly" causing the destructive failure of the satellite itself. This was due to an internal satellite system failure, the impact of space debris of some type, or even a hostile act. The cause has not yet been announced, if it is known. The consequence is that a substantial amount of space debris has been introduced into GEO that is used by a myriad of communication, surveillance (e.g., ICBM attack warning), weather warning, and other important space missions. This just released video helps to explain why the threat posed by space debris is VERY SERIOUS and requires immediate and effective actions by Congress and the U.S. Government to lead worldwide actions to mitigate this threat. The threat posed by space debris is essentially one of numbers. The increasing deployments of satellites, without removing old satellites from space, increases the probability of debris impacts that in turn create more debris and increase the probability of more future impacts. At some point, this chain becomes a rapidly escalating "chain reaction" of debris impacts, rendering space around the Earth a cloud of debris and unusable. In part, this has happened because the United States has failed to pursue a sustainable space policy, due to a continued use of expendable launch vehicles, space debris-creating satellite deployment and mission methods, leaving old satellites in orbit, and the increasing use of large constellations of satellites. The United States and the world will need to build a substantial GEO space solar power clean energy infrastructure to enable an orderly, practicable, and peaceful transition from fossil carbon fuels to clean energy. There are no suitable terrestrial alternatives. The threat posed by space debris threatens this clean energy future and the future sustainable energy security of the United States. #space #NASA #spacedebris #DOD #ELV
