Prof. Sam Lawler

Great article by @startswithabang about how crowded it's getting up there (with lots of quotes from me): https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/earths-orbit-is-getting-crowded-heres-how-we-avoid-a-disaster/

By the way, the CRASH Clock, how long it would take for a collision in orbit if all satellite maneuvers suddenly stopped, is now down to 3 days as of late March (down from 3.8 days in January, and 5.5 days last June. Sigh.) https://outerspaceinstitute.ca/crashclock/

Earth’s orbit is getting crowded. Here’s how we avoid a disaster.

We’ve populated low-Earth orbit with satellites in record time — now we have to figure out how to keep it safe.

Big Think
5:13pmWeb
Show threadMichael Busch5h ago

@sundogplanets @startswithabang

I had an outreach event last weekend where I had occasion to reference the crash clock.

The audience was suitably perturbed.

Show threadNazim Bharmal5h ago
@sundogplanets @startswithabang Wow. Yet another doomsday clock, almost.
Show threadDMTom4h ago
@nab26 @sundogplanets @startswithabang yea, but this one has a quite short window from now till basically loosing LEO (at least for people) for many decades. Dr. Kessler (of the syndrome fame) and co. wrote a paper quite recently - and, long story short - we have maybe 11 years max - if we don’t drastically reduce the constellations, and we are rapidly increasing their numbers. Anyway, the paper in question https://arxiv.org/pdf/2512.09643
Show threadProf. Sam Lawler55m ago
@DMTomas @nab26 @startswithabang Just popping in to clarify, this paper you linked here was written by a team that did include me, and did not include Donald Kessler, though we reference his work.
Show threadKoen Hufkens, PhD5h ago
@sundogplanets @startswithabang So, that crash clock, given the ratio of Starlink vs other stuff, does this mean that a critical outage of command and control at Starlink is now a serious existential risk for LEO as a whole? If so, this would have serious defense implications.
Show threadEric Lawton4h ago

@sundogplanets

"From a legal perspective, outer space is not considered an environment"

Also from a legal perspective, corporations are considered to be persons. Only with fewer consequences because they can't be jailed.

Our lawmakers don't seem to care much about most human beings.

@startswithabang @blogdiva

Show threadEric Lawton4h ago

@sundogplanets

@startswithabang @blogdiva

Show threadAndi H3h ago
@sundogplanets @startswithabang
Live map of satellites ... it is looking busy.
https://satellitemap.space/
Starlink satellite tracker

Explore live satellite tracking on an interactive 3D map. Monitor Starlink constellation, SpaceX launches, GPS coverage, and thousands of orbiting satellites in real-time with advanced visualization.

SatelliteMap.space
Show threadMycotropic46m ago

@sundogplanets @startswithabang

#Seveneves was a hell of a book!

Show threadDa_Gut40m ago

@mycotropic @sundogplanets @startswithabang

Oh yeah, I enjoyed that book. I should probably reread it sometime.

Show threadCrystal_Fish_Caves10m ago

@sundogplanets @startswithabang

WE"VE populated earths orbit?? or ELON has launched the majority of stuff up there with plans for so much more it is unforgivable he can just do shit like he does because he has an equally unforgivable amount of money and not the brains conscience or creativity to do anything worthwhile beside making sure others less fortunate continue to get screwed by the likes of him. He CANCELED USAID because he just wants the earth to himself. Soon he may get his wish.