How will the space program and the rest of the satellites survive all the space debris?
The only way the current menace of space junk will ever be addressed is to stop the creation of more space junk. Some steps have already been taken towards this goal, such as venting all remaining propellants to space after booster rocket or upper stage delivered it’s payload(s) to the correct destination(s), running down all battery power and building spacecraft in a manner that reduces space junk. Other steps are the use of “disposal orbits” to leave defunct satellites out of the way of working spacecraft and the development of techniques to accelerate their orbital decay and final destruction during re-entry. Banning any sort of intentional explosions in space, and testing of any sort of anti-satellite weaponry is also a must. Some work has been done too on the development of satellites built to capture dead satellites and other junk up there. More careful monitoring of objects in space and their movements is also needed because the operators of the recently obliterated Iridium sate
