Why There Should Not Be a Norm for “Minimum Safe Distance” Between Satellites

​Outer space is infinite, but the parts of space most important to life on Earth are becoming increasingly congested. Satellites vital for infrastructure, economy, and security are filling up the thousands of miles above the Earth’s surface. With this crowding comes an increase in close approaches between satellites, placing communications, navigation, weather monitoring, missile warning, and other satellites at risk.  There are many reasons to fear close approaches — also known as conjunctions — in space, even if they are accidental. From a safety perspective, accidental satellite collisions could produce thousands of pieces of long-lived debris, as happened when an
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