The Sky Is Falling! But the Military Is Here to Help

There are about 800 satellites in space above Earth as we speak. It’s crowded. And occasionally, two of those spacecraft collide, disrupting commercial and/or military communications, global positioning systems (GPS), or whatever else the satellite was put up there to do.

The U.S. Air Force Space Command keeps tabs on 300 of them. And now they are moving to register all 800 so they can tell satellite owners when a collision is imminent and steps can be taken to maneuver them out of the way.

Of course, there are complications. Satellite owners, which include private companies and foreign governments, would have to reveal sensitive data. And because the military fears liability issues, they would also have to sign agreements freeing the U.S. from legal action if a repositioned satellite is damaged.

They hope to sort all this out by October 1.

(Source: Reuters)

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