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So the rate that there was in 2020, the number of satellites launched is double by 2022.

Um, in 2022, there were something s- a little under, uh, 2,000 satellites launched roughly in 2022.

In 2024, there'll be almost 4,000 satellites.

Whatever is happening today, in two years will be twice as much, and in four years will be four times as much, and in six years will be eight times as much.

This is a crazy growth rate.

Do you think that we're making the same mistake when it comes to space, or do you think that we've kind of learned our lesson and we're trying to get ahead of this?

I don't think society learns its lessons [laughs] like that, you know.

And so what was the focus of the Institute at that time? It was on

deflection technologies.

How would you go about doing this? And then I headed off.

I left NASA.

I headed off to Google.

And then I was able to use the resources of Google to get meeting rooms because by then we got the Association of Space Explorers to begin to consider this problem of planetary defense.

And that's when they got the United Nations involved.

It's never

They can now spot a collision seven days in advance and alert companies in time to move their satellites out of the way.

We've had some very close passes.

We have tracked objects that have gone within a few meters of each other, a few, a few tens of meters for sure, at, you know, a relative velocity of, uh, fifteen or so kilometers per second.

That's, uh, you know, thirty-five thousand miles per hour.

[laughing] And to miss by, like, meters is, is crazy.

Um, and we've, we've observed that many times.

Do you think that we're making the same mistake when it comes to space, or do you think that we've kind of learned our lesson and we're trying to get ahead of this?

I don't think society learns its [laughing] lessons like that.

So they can give companies plenty of time to move their satellites out of the way.

We've had some very close passes.

We have tracked objects that have gone within a few meters of each other, a few tens of meters for sure, at a relative velocity of 15 or so kilometers per second.

That's 35,000 miles per hour.

And to miss by, like, meters is crazy.

And we've observed that many times.

Right.

Just like everything else.