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[–] 13 points 5 months ago (2 children)

The syndrome is kind of already in effect it's just in very early cycles. It was a few months ago the ISS made emergency maneuvers to avoid debris and a few weeks ago some telecom satellite lost comms and they assume from debris. Won't be long as more debris multiplies that it becomes unmanageable and untraceable so bad that your scenario starts happening.

Although realistically with the strides we've made in orbital liftoff weights they'll probably start armoring shit.

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago*

    Given that they left the shuttle booster unpainted to save on weight, I doubt we'll be able to launch anything with armour that can stop anything but the smallest shards from doing damage, we also already amrour everything to protect against the constant bombardment of space debris, where even a spec of dust can create a 2mm hole

    https://www.esa.int/Space_Safety/Space_Debris/Hypervelocity_impacts_and_protecting_spacecraft

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

    Depending on trajectory, space debris in orbit can hit you with up to 10x the velocity of an armor-piercing sabot round (which is just a metal dart). So even tanks on earth aren't armored nearly enough to survive space debris.

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