A measure of how seriously both the scientific, and the commercial use of space is taken would be to ask how many people know what the
Kessler syndrome or effect is.
The Kessler syndrome is the name given to a possible state of affairs which grows ever more likely with each year. The notion is named after a NASA scientist, Donald Kessler, who in 1978 described the phenomena.
What is it? In a word, garbage, specifically garbage in space. Since the launch of the USSR's sputnik 1, in 1957, each year more objects have been placed into orbit. Many of those objects remain in orbit. For example the United States first satellite Vanguard 1 is still in orbit. There are some 2000 odd operational satellites, and some 600 thousand objects ranging in size from 1 to 10 cm.
The Kessler syndrome is especially insidious because of the domino effect and feedback runaway wherein impacts between objects of sizable mass spall off debris from the force of collision. The shrapnel can then hit other objects, producing even more space debris: if a large enough collision or explosion were to occur, such as between a space station and a defunct satellite, or as the result of hostile actions in space, then the resulting debris cascade could make prospects for long-term viability of satellites in low earth orbit extremely low.Each year on average one satellite is rendered permanently inoperative (destroyed) by being struck by some random junk. This according to the BBC.
http://www.bbc.com/news/business-28948367The collision of satellites would inevitably create tremendous amounts of debris, and it has already happened. In February of 2009 the Russian Cosmos 2251 and the American Iridium 33 satellites collided creating a massive number of large objects which all have their own orbits.
The use of anti-satellite weapons would create vast amounts of debris, and it has already happened. In 1985 the United States Air Force with the encouragement of the Reagan administration tested the ASM-135 against the Solwind astrophysics satellite.
NASA learned of U.S. Air Force plans for the Solwind ASAT test in July 1985. NASA modeled the effects of the test. This model determined that debris produced would still be in orbit in the 1990s. It would force NASA to enhance debris shielding for its planned space station. Earlier the U.S. Air Force and NASA had worked together to develop a special target for ASAT experiments, so as to avoid producing long-lived debris. However after informing Congress of the intention to live test the ASM-135 missile, the Congress introduced a bill to ban such testing. Before the bill could become law the Department of Defense acting in accord with the Regan administration used the missile.
In 2007, in an inexcusable act of vandalism the Chinese government did the same damn thing.
