The Looming Risk of Too Many Satellites and Debris in Space

There was nothing terribly remarkable about the Iridium 33 and Kosmos 2251 satellites—at least not at first. Iridium was a 1,500 lb. communications satellite the U.S. launched into space in 1997; Kosmos, was another communications satellite, also tipping the scales at 1,500 lb., that Russia sent aloft in 1993. That’s a lot of metal moving with a lot of speed—17,500 miles per hour—and it paid for ground controllers to keep the ships flying true. When it came to Iridium, that was relatively easy, with occasional thruster tweaks holding the satellite upright and moving it out of harm’s way. Kosmos was a different matter. More

(Source: Time Magazine - Apr 17)