Quote:
Originally Posted by Olefin
Keep in mind that even a catastrophic Kessler scenario in LEO (low earth orbit) poses a minimal risk for launches of craft that are going past LEO - or for satellites and craft above LEO. Also even in the worst case scenario what you get is an increase in the number of collisions, not a physically impassable barrier to space exploration or a barrier that prevents craft to getting to higher orbits.
After all the Soviet weather satellite did survive to re-enter - if the debris had been so bad that LEO was impassible then it would been destroyed long before.
Also the debris in LEO will eventually decay and re-enter just due to residual air drag at those orbital heights - meaning that in a couple of decades at most the increase in collision risks will significantly be reduced.
And France has one big advantage in that they may very well have an intact satellite manufacturer - i.e. Cannes Mandelieu Space Center in Cannes has been making satellites for quite a while - i.e. the satellite division of Aerospatiale - so that would give the French most likely the last intact satellite manufacturing plant in the world and a launch facility that they could use as well - the question is how much of their facilities are still in one piece along with engineers and technicians
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I think higher orbits were for example the French would place an INTEL satellite would be at lest risk from debris due to their being less junk at that altitude.