The quest to conquer Earth’s space junk problem (2018)

Tragedy of the commons in the space age.<p>How about the a rule that you have to remove trash in proportion to the mass you introduce? If you want to send up satellites now you have to organize to have some pieces of trash already there to be removed. When you finally remove the satellites you introduced, that counts towards your balance. But only at that time. As long as they are up you can&#x27;t send up more without cleaning up some other people&#x27;s junk.

Any active mitigation technique like lasers could also be used against live satellites, raising huge national security implications. Seems like a huge area of potential conflict and likely a new race for parity.<p>IE, &quot;Could a Chinese Space Junk Laser Double as a Weapon?&quot;<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.popularmechanics.com&#x2F;military&#x2F;weapons&#x2F;a15338238&#x2F;china-space-junk-laser-weapon-potential&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.popularmechanics.com&#x2F;military&#x2F;weapons&#x2F;a15338238&#x2F;...</a><p>I also seem to recall Musk saying the lasers on Starlink satellites used for communication could also be used for cleaning space junk. I&#x27;m sure that caught the attention of many militaries around the world.