Dan Oltrogge

Orbit is increasingly becoming a busy highway, with more companies launching hoards of satellites above our skies. With all those spacecraft cruising in Earth orbit, a group of industry representatives is suggesting new guidelines for “road safety”in space.Another Vortex Hits Texas | Extreme EarthThe Space Safety Coalition (SSC) updated its set of guidelines for space operations to include “rules of the road,” a list of best practices to avoid collisions between spacecraft. SSC updated its “Best Practices for the…

Artist’s depiction of space debris orbiting Earth.Illustration: Christoph Burgstedt/Science Photo Library (AP)Orbital debris from a Russian anti-satellite weapons test is menacing the Starlink satellite constellation, with researchers reporting more than 6,000 close calls with the SpaceX satellites. The near collisions were discussed during a talk on Monday at the Small Satellite Conference in Utah, SpaceNews first reported. According to Dan Oltrogge, chief scientist at COMSPOC, a company that tracks objects in space,…