Will Parker

And it's something that I think we're going to start to have to do more and more as time goes on.

And it's something that I think we're going to start to have to do more and more as time goes on.

So for really large pieces of space junk, so I'm talking large satellites that are abandoned or we have upper stage rocket bodies that are floating around in space. For those things, there have been several companies and governments that have been working on what they call active debris removal strategies.

So for really large pieces of space junk, so I'm talking large satellites that are abandoned or we have upper stage rocket bodies that are floating around in space. For those things, there have been several companies and governments that have been working on what they call active debris removal strategies.

So that means that we take basically independent satellites, we launch them to space specifically to remove these large objects. Basically, it's a one-to-one. We send up a satellite to remove a satellite. That's incredibly expensive. It's something that we need to do, but it is not a scalable problem. We have hundreds of millions of objects when you get down to the really small scales.

So that means that we take basically independent satellites, we launch them to space specifically to remove these large objects. Basically, it's a one-to-one. We send up a satellite to remove a satellite. That's incredibly expensive. It's something that we need to do, but it is not a scalable problem. We have hundreds of millions of objects when you get down to the really small scales.

We have no way to remove those objects. We can remove maybe five or 10 objects a year using this active debris removal, but that will never, ever scale to the problem. I liken it to direct air capture for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The direct air capture is useful for sort of trying to clean up the mess that we've already made.

We have no way to remove those objects. We can remove maybe five or 10 objects a year using this active debris removal, but that will never, ever scale to the problem. I liken it to direct air capture for removing greenhouse gases from the atmosphere. The direct air capture is useful for sort of trying to clean up the mess that we've already made.

But it's always a lot cheaper to not make a mess in the first place than it is to clean up a mess that has already been made. So that's what we're advocating for. I think that the active debris removal will be a useful component to trying to ensure this long-term sustainability. But really, the atmosphere is all we rely on to do 99.9% of the cleanup.

But it's always a lot cheaper to not make a mess in the first place than it is to clean up a mess that has already been made. So that's what we're advocating for. I think that the active debris removal will be a useful component to trying to ensure this long-term sustainability. But really, the atmosphere is all we rely on to do 99.9% of the cleanup.

Well, we've seen recently, certainly in the news, lots of instances of space debris that makes its way all the way to the ground and maybe poses a hazard to people on the surface. That is certainly a concern, and it's something that I think will constrain our space activity. It's important to, one, be able to understand what will these satellites do as they're burning up in the atmosphere.

Well, we've seen recently, certainly in the news, lots of instances of space debris that makes its way all the way to the ground and maybe poses a hazard to people on the surface. That is certainly a concern, and it's something that I think will constrain our space activity. It's important to, one, be able to understand what will these satellites do as they're burning up in the atmosphere.

Will they burn up completely? In a lot of cases, we thought they would, and they're not in practice. So that's a concern, and that's something that the space industry needs to work on. The other component is we need to sort of better coordinate between all of the decision makers and all the people that need to know the information that we have available.

Will they burn up completely? In a lot of cases, we thought they would, and they're not in practice. So that's a concern, and that's something that the space industry needs to work on. The other component is we need to sort of better coordinate between all of the decision makers and all the people that need to know the information that we have available.

So if we have a satellite that's reentering that may not make it to the ground, we need to do a better job of coordinating with airline pilots, with people in the ground that may be impacted in advance. And that's certainly a concern, I think, for people's safety.

So if we have a satellite that's reentering that may not make it to the ground, we need to do a better job of coordinating with airline pilots, with people in the ground that may be impacted in advance. And that's certainly a concern, I think, for people's safety.

Obviously, it's a pretty low risk just because we don't have satellites reentering all the time and the Earth is very big and it's mostly water. So we haven't seen an issue yet. But as we're launching more things into space and as the atmosphere is removing more of those objects, we're going to start to see more of these reentries happen. So it's important to get a grip on that problem.

Obviously, it's a pretty low risk just because we don't have satellites reentering all the time and the Earth is very big and it's mostly water. So we haven't seen an issue yet. But as we're launching more things into space and as the atmosphere is removing more of those objects, we're going to start to see more of these reentries happen. So it's important to get a grip on that problem.

The mega constellations are a new trend in the way that we operate satellites. It was initially driven by companies like OneWeb and SpaceX. Today, SpaceX's Starlink constellation is over 60% of all of the active satellites in orbit. And they operate, at this point, many thousands of satellites in a very tight altitude regime.

The mega constellations are a new trend in the way that we operate satellites. It was initially driven by companies like OneWeb and SpaceX. Today, SpaceX's Starlink constellation is over 60% of all of the active satellites in orbit. And they operate, at this point, many thousands of satellites in a very tight altitude regime.