
U.S.-Russian Satellite Collision Sends Debris Flying - sanj
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/12/science/space/12satellite.html?_r=1&hp
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dhughes
I wonder how fast the debris will be pulled downward and if it will damage
other satellites, which will damage even more satellites.

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yters
Yeah, a chain reaction up there is a significant threat.

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geuis
There's been a few posts in the last few days about business models. If
someone can develop a way to clear debris from orbit, you have a business.

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Tangurena
The lawyers and insurance companies would stop you.

This isn't a new idea, and the early satellites used a lot of gold in them.
However, all those satellites have an owner, and those owners are not willing
to let you _take_ the satellites away for "recycling" without getting a
profit-eliminating payment.

Before satellite removal could become a viable business, one would have to
change the Outer Space Treaties in order to make it work.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty>

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JulianMorrison
Someone should extend the salvage law (as currently applied to boats) to also
apply to failed satellites and space junk.

