Space Junk and Laser Beams – How to Control Pollution in Space

Big tech companies like Amazon, OneWeb, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are planning on launching thousands of satellites into space to improve Internet coverage around the planet. But with so many satellites orbiting Earth, what are the chances of them colliding into one another creating irreversible damage? Termed ‘Kessler Syndrome’, a scenario where one collision in space generates a flow on effect of further collisions until Low Earth Orbit is no longer usable, could 20,000 freely orbiting satellites make this a reality?

This morning on Breakfast, Tess chatted with Dr Doris Grosse from ANU about how hazardous space junk actually is, and what her team of researchers are doing to combat potential issues.

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