It’s getting crowded up there, and awfully dangerous.

By up there, we mean space — and not the far-off areas that concern astronomers and science fiction, but the closer orbits where we humans keep putting our satellites https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

As satellites crash or break down, their flotsam and jetsam creates belts of debris, shooting into other satellites, rockets and space vehicles.

Some orbits could eventually become unusable. That would be a disaster — it could even start a war https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

What scholars call the “tragedy of the commons” is what results when we ruin something because we all profit from exploiting it. Classic examples include:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐄" title="Kuh" aria-label="Emoji: Kuh">Overgrazing public lands
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🐟" title="Fisch" aria-label="Emoji: Fisch">Overfishing the oceans
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏭" title="Fabrik" aria-label="Emoji: Fabrik">Polluting the atmosphere https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

We’ve launched thousands of satellites into space and keep adding more. SpaceX has put up more than a thousand just in the past year.

These objects collide, malfunction and misbehave in other ways https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

As a result, about 28,000 fragments of junk are zipping around in space, and that count includes only what we can track.

Statistical models suggests that almost a million objects the size of hand grenades are orbiting the Earth https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

In space, many millions of bullet-sized things are floating around.

Owing to their astronomical speeds, even those small pellets can take out an astronaut, a satellite or even the International Space Station https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

Besides wreaking physical damage, this junk creates other problems:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌌" title="Milchstraße" aria-label="Emoji: Milchstraße">Electromagnetic radiation
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌌" title="Milchstraße" aria-label="Emoji: Milchstraße">Radio frequency interference
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌌" title="Milchstraße" aria-label="Emoji: Milchstraße">Scattering light
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🌌" title="Milchstraße" aria-label="Emoji: Milchstraße">Man-made dust makes telescopes ineffective
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

Even more ominously, space is nowadays also the fifth domain of warfare — alongside land, sea, air and cyberspace.

The U.S., Russia and China are arming themselves to take out each other’s satellites offensively https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

The new weaponry includes:

https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="➡️" title="Pfeil nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach rechts">Physical missiles
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="➡️" title="Pfeil nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach rechts">Lasers
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="➡️" title="Pfeil nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach rechts">Electronic jamming
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="➡️" title="Pfeil nach rechts" aria-label="Emoji: Pfeil nach rechts">Cyberattacks
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...

Cooperation is the only way forward.

The major powers must elevate space governance to the level of other threats to humanity, from climate change to nuclear proliferation https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-04-17/space-junk-like-overfishing-and-pollution-is-a-global-tragedy-of-the-commons?sref=2o0rZsF1">https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...