Princeton-led team finds 'CRASH clock' indicates 2.8-day collision risk
Technology
A Princeton-led team has found that satellite crashes might be way closer than we thought.
Their new "CRASH Clock" concept shows that if a geomagnetic storm knocks out communication with satellites, a collision could happen in as little as 2.8 days, way faster than the old estimate of 164 days.
May 2025 saw over 11,700 satellites
As of May 2025, there were over 11,700 active satellites orbiting Earth—a 485% jump since 2018, mostly thanks to mega-constellations like Starlink.
With so many satellites up there (Starlink alone dodges potential collisions every couple of minutes), the risk of accidents and space debris is higher than ever, which could mess with everything from GPS to internet connections.