Why ‘Kessler Syndrome’ could turn from a hypothetical to a space disaster reality

Space scientists continue to raise alarms about the danger to the International Space Station, communications satellites and future space missions from debris leftover from an increasing number of launches, collisions, explosions and weapons tests in low-Earth orbit. Many space traffic experts, including Space4 Center Director Vishnu Reddy, worry it could precipitate "Kessler Syndrome" – a scenario in which space debris sets off a chain reaction of explosions that ends with Earth's orbit clogged with so much junk that satellites become inoperable and space exploration comes to a grinding halt.