50 years ago we didn't have satellites. Now if there is a breakdown in their operation, there can be communications breakdown, paranoia, even the prospect of a state of war (political,national, and economic) between unspecified parties. The space in orbit is a garbage dump, with dust having the impact velocity that can cripple space craft. The number of recorded objects is increasing logarithmically. Saturn has rings of dust, the Earth has rings of garbage. As we continue to introduce objects to this ring it can only be a matter of time before the volume reaches critical mass. Have we become too dependent on satellites, or is too much dependence placed on them? If satellites became inoperati...

50 years ago we didn't have satellites. Now if there is a breakdown in their operation, there can be communications breakdown, paranoia, even the prospect of a state of war (political,national, and economic) between unspecified parties. The space in orbit is a garbage dump, with dust having the impact velocity that can cripple space craft. The number of recorded objects is increasing logarithmically. Saturn has rings of dust, the Earth has rings of garbage. As we continue to introduce objects to this ring it can only be a matter of time before the volume reaches critical mass. Have we become too dependent on satellites, or is too much dependence placed on them? If satellites became inoperative, we would survive the situation, but would we survive the panic ?