Kessler Syndrome wouldn't stop us directly. If we absolutely had to, we could use air breathing electromagnetic thrusters to keep extremely low orbit satellites aloft.
https://phys.org/news/2018-03-world-first-air-breathing-elec...
However, if global warming requires us to do geoengineering, such a handicap might well result in the extinction of human civilization.
There are some private organizations that are arguably more powerful than full nation-states nowadays.
There were private companies that basically owned some 3rd world countries in the 20th century. This situation probably still exists to some extent.
Just one example that never seizes to amaze me:
By 1803, at the height of its rule in India, the British East India company had a private army of about 260,000—twice the size of the British Army.
I think the idea was to allow private investors to colonize new territories and later seize control from them.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_India_Company#East_India_...
It had an army, larger than the one from its home country. AFAIK, it was officially not independent, but what difference does the official title make?
Source: Working for a nation-state funded science lab.
There have been PocketQube launches which are smaller than these satellites which in theory got licenses.
Also, there are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of pieces of debris smaller than these satellites. It's not clear that four more satellites are really going to raise the risk bar that much.
> Also, there are estimated to be hundreds of thousands of pieces of debris smaller than these satellites. It's not clear that four more satellites are really going to raise the risk bar that much.
Yeah but intentionally putting up more is still not a good idea.
[1] Russia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons on Earth.
[1] https://fas.org/issues/nuclear-weapons/status-world-nuclear-...
The highest-yield US warhead was the 25Mt Mk 41, retired in 1976. All warheads in the inventory now are in the sub-Mt range, mostly around 150 to 300 Kt
Regardless, if you're Russian you should also carefully consider whether your national interest aligns with the continued existence of humanity, at least as far as nuclear weapons go.
Putin said, just yesterday, that he sees no reason for the world to continue to exist without Russia. He was strongly impling that Russia would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if threatened.
- Kessler Syndrome, a la "Is the plotline of Gravity inevitable with increasing commercialization of space?"
- Weaponization of space. If you could get 4 unauthorized satellites up on a launch that was forbidden because "they're a danger to other satellites", could you do the same with satellites that are intentionally a danger to other satellites? Could a private company knock out the U.S's spy satellites at just the moment they are most needed? Could it set up its own spy network?
- How about ABM defense? Could a private company create a network of smart space junk with the purpose of stopping a potential nuclear war before it starts? (Incidentally, such an organization could end up in the position of both saving humanity and opposing U.S. national interests, given that the U.S. has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons on Earth, which should make Americans wonder if U.S. national interests are aligned with humanity. Crimson Tide was a great movie.)
- More generally: nation states have traditionally had a monopoly around certain technologies. Spaceflight, weaponry, cryptography, communication networks. That monopoly is fraying, or in some cases, has already frayed beyond repair. What does that mean for the power balance on earth, and for social organization on the planet? There are some private organizations that are arguably more powerful than full nation-states nowadays.
21st century sorts of problems indeed. At least the 21st century looks like it'll be exciting, if somewhat scary.