Every year, thousands of satellites are launched into orbit around our planet. The result is an increasingly congested "space" above Earth populated by equipment that provides services to the surface. At the same time, these satellites affect ground-based astronomy and create the potential for damag e when they eventually fall through Earth's atmosphere to the surface. In addition, near-Earth space hosts old rocket bodies and other materials (cameras, gloves, etc.) left in orbit by past missions. ...read more read less