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Something I've always wondered about: how do space agencies (NASA, SpaceX, etc) coordinate launches so that they don't hit this stuff? Are the coordinates aligned with launch pads blocked?

Essentially, how do they avoid this: https://youtu.be/O-d8BJ2iljc?t=33s.



They map objects larger than about 10 cm (so, like, a softball?) and take manouvers if there's a debris cloud. Most stuff is shielded, some has more shielding.

http://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/


As far as I know they really don't worry about it- there's a lot of space up there and considering how small satellites are the chance of hitting anything is astronomical.




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