After a defunct Russian satellite collided with a Iridium-owned US satellite, which SatCom commander Gen. Kevin Chilton called a “seminal event,” the Pentagon has been trying to keep tabs on over 20,000 satellites in earth orbit. Before the collision last Feburary, Chilton said the Air Force was tracking less that 1oo satellites per day, but has now increased that capacity to 800 per day, and plans on adding the ability to track 500 more by year’s end. Chilton also said that the current system is too reliant on Air Force analysts, and is decades behind where it should be.
Read more at Reuters.
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