At this very moment, there are over 10,000 operational satellites in low Earth orbit, along with 3,500 decommissioned (or defunct) satellites, tens of thousands of pieces of debris 10 centimeters or larger, and more than 100 million smaller debris pieces — and the risks of conjunctions are increasing. These numbers will only multiply as the cadence of commercial and government launches rapidly increases. While there are varying forecasts for how many new satellites will enter orbit by 2030 that range from 20,000 to 58,000, there is no question that low Earth orbit (LEO) congestion is set to increase substantially.
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