What If We Lost Access to Space?

Space feels vast, distant and quietly dependable. To most of us, it's where billionaires send gigantic rockets, or where science fiction movies dominate our streaming platforms.

But modern life depends heavily on the thin band of orbital space surrounding the Earth. Thousands of satellites power systems we rely on every day — from GPS navigation and weather forecasting to communications, banking networks, national infratraucture, defence and global logistics.

What happens if that orbital infrastructure suddenly becomes unusable?

In this session, Nick Howes, space systems technical lead at BMT and long time space enthusiast, writer and public speaker, explores a scenario many space experts now see as increasingly plausible: The so called "Kessler Syndrome"

First proposed by NASA scientist Donald Kessler, the idea is simple but alarming. When satellites collide, they generate debris. That debris can strike other satellites, creating more fragments and triggering further collisions. Over time, this chain reaction could fill parts of Earth’s orbit with dangerous debris, making them extremely difficult — or even impossible — to use.

As the number of satellites launched into orbit continues to grow rapidly, and the nature and capability of adversaries to attack those satellites grows ever stronger, the question for many researchers is shifting from “if” to “when.”

This talk looks at the consequences of such an event and why it matters far beyond the space industry.

What systems would fail first?
How dependent is modern infrastructure on satellites?
And how resilient are the technologies we rely on every day?

Drawing on years of personal fascination with space systems and orbital sustainability, Nick explores how fragile the infrastructure above our heads might actually be — and what happens if we start to lose access to it.

Know what’s Happening Next — before everyone else does.

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