Securing our Skies

Safeguarding Satellites in an Era of Proliferation

Last month there was an explosion in space that no-one is talking about.

No, it wasn’t a supernova.

Not an anti-satellite (ASAT) weapon.

This explosion has been in the number of satellites.

Humans have been launching satellites into space since October 4, 1957 when the Soviets launched Sputnik.

For most of the time since then, we’ve launched a handful of satellites each year. For example, by 2014, there were only 1,261 active satellites in orbit around the Earth.

But since 2014, that number has grown much more quickly. Today, there are an estimated 7,702 active satellites (and many more inactive satellites).

This rapid increase in the number of satellites in space (and our growing reliance on them for a suite of missions including telecommunications, earth observation, GPS, and more) creates significant risks.

One risk is the Kessler syndrome. Another is cyberattacks.