Earlier quoted context omitted.
>only set us back by a few decades Uhhh, that’s quite some time.
It is interesting to think about. Assume for a minute that Starlink and Amazon's project and a handful of others put tens of thousands of satellites into 500-600 km LEO. Two crash, bits of those crash into others, and runaway Kessler syndrome ensues, resulting in space at those altitudes effectively closed off for 25 years. Assume the ISS at 400 km is no longer safe for human habitation, and it's too risky to try to…
FYI it appears that for a unpowered satellite at 500-600km the average lifetime is around 5 years.
https://space.stackexchange.com/questions/13851/how-long-can...