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this post was submitted on 18 Sep 2023
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The universe is our trash can
The universe is big enough to be able to handle that. Earth's orbit less so.
Even so, it seems counterproductive to abandon tons of really expensive materials in space, presumably until supply of these materials on Earth is depleted.
Don't worry, in the long-term anything in LEO will end up on Earth again.
If sending these materials up there helps you secure more supply of them on earth it is a win. For humanity it is a loss, but we still think in nation states until we are all fucked.
LEO satellites, like the ones being discussed, are pretty much guaranteed to deorbit within a limited timeframe, as atmospheric drag constantly causes their orbit to decay.
That doesn't mean that you couldn't colossally mess up the existing LEO satellites, but that mess would clean itself up within a few years. And you have to put new LEO satellites up every few years anyway, so it'd translate to a relatively-short-term -- if significant -- disruption.
The real problems are higher-altitude satellites.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_missile_test
Everything is our trashcan.