By Derek Smith, Originally published by Michigan Engineering News
The risk of satellite collisions is growing as space gets more crowded, with more than 12,000 active satellites orbiting Earth, as well as debris like spent rocket casings, dead satellites and broken bits of equipment.
Researchers at U-M and elsewhere are working to keep space safe for future generations. They’re developing solutions that could enable tracking of microscopic fragments and designing forecasting tools that could more accurately track active satellites during space weather events.