Question:
In the past 40 years, over 20,000 metric tons of hardware have been placed in Earth's orbit. During the same time span, over 15,000 metric tons of hardware returned to Earth. The objects remaining in Earth's orbit range in size from large operational spacecraft to tiny flecks of paint. There are about 150,000 objects in Earth's orbit 1 cm or larger in size. About 10,000 of the space objects are currently tracked from ground stations on the Earth. Space traffic control [61] is becoming an important issue, especially for commercial satellite companies that plan to "fly" their satellites through orbit altitudes where other satellites are operating, and through areas where high concentrations of space debris may exist. Sketch a block diagram of a space traffic control system that commercial companies might use to keep their satellites safe from collisions while operating in space.