Satellites: Potential Problems Down the Road

What's something that we all need in this technological age? Satellites. Without them, humanity would not be able to do nearly as much as we currently can. In this article, I will discuss the many ways in which satellites can be destroyed.

First off, I like satellites. Satellites provide us with a plethora of services such as cell phones, satellite television, satellite radio, Google Earth, weather maps; etc that simply could not exist without them. However, what if there was some cataclysmic event that destroyed or disabled the majority of the satellites floating above us?

This would be a disaster of epic proportions. There are many ways in which this disaster could come true. What if there was a serious asteroid storm? Holes could be punched in our satellites and cause them to malfunction or stop working altogether.

Another possibility is that the asteroid storm could cause the satellites to explode or be torn to shreds. And then the satellites could always crash back into Earth. Of course, for the most part, the satellites would burn up in the atmosphere but not completely. A few remnants of the satellites are bound to crash into the planet's surface. Many people could perish if enough of the satellite debris were to make it to the surface of our planet.

If the satellites were to explode then that would create another dilemma. Space junk. This space junk would float around in space and could possibly crash into other satellites. A chain reaction would then ensue where more and more space junk would crash into more and more satellites. With all of this space junk floating around in space, new satellites that are launched to replace the damaged ones would be at far greater risk to damage or destruction.

Solar flares are another example of how satellites could be crippled or obliterated. Solar flares can sometimes damage the sensitive electronic equipment that makes up satellites. If this sensitive electronic equipment were to be damaged, then the satellites would do nothing but float around in space. Basically, the satellites would then just become more space junk.

And finally what about destroying satellites in a time of war? China recently demonstrated how it can be done. China launched a missile at an old weather satellite that they owned, and blew it to pieces. I don't know why China did this, but I don't think it was that great of an idea. Mainly because they increased the amount of debris floating around our planet. This really doesn't benefit anyone, including China. But it does show how our dependence on satellites could be used against us in a time of war.

The loss of our satellites would be a great detriment to the people of this planet. Without our satellites, our great technological age would be brought to a stand still.