The impact of the increase in small satellite launch traffic on the long-term evolution of the space debris environment

In recent years, the launch traffic to low Earth orbits (LEO) has undergone a significant change: while in the beginning of this century the launch rates dropped to their lowest level since the beginning of the space age, the yearly number of launches performed has now recovered to 20th century levels. Although absolute launch numbers are now comparable to historic levels, fundamental space activity has changed dramatically: instead of launching few, complex, large and expensive spacecraft, as d