A little knowledge is a dangerous thing

OF course satellites are vulnerable to space weather, which includes the International Space Station (ISS), which operates in low earth orbit - and yes, relatively speaking, we have put a lot of junk into space, but Michael Carter should not get too excited or paranoid about it, as there is still a lot of room out there and he needs to get things into perspective (Letters May 9).

Space junk includes both natural meteoroid and artificial debris in orbit around the Earth.

Most orbital junk comprise artificial objects that no longer serve a useful purpose – during 2022 there were 25,209 orbital debris objects – the tracking of objects in space is carried out by the US Department of Defence, and their Space Surveillance Network (SSN).

This is a global network of sensors that constantly monitor the space environment.

I presume Mr Carter is aware of Sky TV satellites placed in geophysical orbit that have been functioning for over 30 years without major mishap – there are 11 fully-operational Astra satellites and another two as backup/ reserve.

Both TV and power transmission make use of the electromagnetic spectrum and steps can be taken to safe guard orbital technology indeed we will have prior warning of an intense solar storm thanks to modern technology – but it will be rather difficult to safeguard/ move/hide hundreds of miles of exposed and fixed overhead power routes and sub-stations etc from an exposure similar to a Carrington Event, or the Quebec outage.

They say a little knowledge is a dangerous thing and I can imagine Mr Carter writing many years ago that heavier-than-air machines will never fly – common sense Mr Haskell, he would possibly (and laughingly) write.