Screenshot from Wayfinder's privateer app showing the mapped space debris in Earth's orbit. Photo: Screenshot / Privateer
Renowned space environmentalist and astrodynamicist specialising in space object detection and identification, Dr Moriba Jah believes it's only a matter of time before someone is killed by falling space debris. Currently it's estimated 27,000 objects bigger than a softball are hurtling around the Earth's orbit, not to mention millions of smaller fragments. And these numbers are only set to grow with 24,000 satellites set to launch in the next 10 years.
Dr Jah is also the chief scientist for Privateer, a start-up co-founded by Apple's Steve Wozniak aiming to enable sustainable growth for the space sector. The company has mapped our crowded skies and used that data to create Wayfinder - a space junk tracker application available to the public.
