Space debris: Are we on track for true sustainability? (op-ed)
I think the real question buried in this op-ed is whether we've quietly decided that orbit is disposable. We treat space like a highway we never clean up, and every launch adds another piece of junk that could take out a satellite we actually depend on. The people who profit from launching rarely pay for the mess they leave behind.
What connects here is the economics. Sustainability in space comes down to incentives more than technology. We know how to track debris, we're getting better at maneuvering satellites, but none of that matters if there's no cost to leaving junk up there. I'd want to know whether the industry is serious about cleanup or just hoping the problem stays manageable long enough to cash out.
I land somewhere between hopeful and worried. The fact that we're even having this conversation in a public forum is progress. But talk is cheap, and orbital debris doesn't care about our intentions. The next decade will tell us if we actually mean it.