Astrophysics (Index)About

Kessler syndrome

(collisional cascade)
(low-Earth-orbit debris growing out of control)

The Kessler syndrome is a potential situation regarding low Earth orbits (LEOs): a cascade of collisions of debris (collisional cascade), i.e., a runaway process creating more, as broken debris becomes more debris. Donald Kessler published a model of such an event in 1978. Such an occurrence could make low Earth orbit unusable.

With the current satellite constellation plans of increasing the satellites in LEO by thousands, controlled by various organizations, this a possible outcome of a failure to track them all and avert collisions, which would make LEO far more dangerous for humans and equipment.


(space)
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome
https://ui.adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1978JGR....83.2637K/abstract
http://www.castor2.ca/07_News/headline_010216_files/Kessler_Collision_Frequency_1978.pdf

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