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https://www.space.com/space-exploration/satellites/tragedy-of-the-commons-in-space-we-need-to-act-now-to-prevent-an-orbital-debris-crisis-scientists-say

Earth orbit is getting more and more crowded, with both active satellites and pieces of debris. There's so much stuff up there that it's far from alarmist to start worrying about the Kessler syndrome, a nightmare scenario in which a collision or two leads to many more, vastly increasing the amount of junk circling our planet.

“We have to get serious about this and recognize that, unless we do something, we are in imminent danger of making a whole part of our Earth environment unusable."

Most of those LEO satellites — about 6,800 of them — belong to a single constellation: SpaceX's Starlink broadband network. The vast majority of these warnings involve Starlink satellites, which are far from sitting ducks. These spacecraft use onboard software to spot possibly worrisome encounters and perform evasive maneuvers if needed which other satellites cannot.

These numbers are growing all the time, and the tally could soon get mind-bogglingly high. SpaceX, for example, wants the Starlink network to eventually harbor more than 40,000 spacecraft.

Other players aim to build their own broadband constellations in LEO as well. China has begun building out its Qianfan ("Thousand Sails") megaconstellation, which will feature about 14,000 satellites if all goes according to plan. In addition, Amazon intends to assemble its own 3,200-satellite LEO broadband network, called Project Kuiper.

These satellites are having more and more close encounters with each other and with pieces of debris. Indeed, there are about 1,000 collision warnings per day on average in LEO. Earth orbit is getting more and more crowded, with both active satellites and pieces of debris. There's so much stuff up there that it's far from alarmist to start worrying about the Kessler syndrome, a nightmare scenario in which a collision or two leads to many more.

A windfall profits tax, or excess profits tax, is a one-time surtax levied on companies or industries that experience unexpectedly high profits due to unforeseen circumstances, like a surge in energy prices, weather related or disease related events.

A windfall profits tax is a tax on profits that are not usually captured, often motivated by the desire to tax profits resulting from an external factor, such as an energy crisis.

Purpose:
Governments propose such taxes to generate additional revenue, potentially encourage companies to reduce prices, or temporarily regulate markets during periods of unusual volatility.

Examples:
Historically, these taxes have targeted oil and energy companies when costs have risen, especially during war or other crises.

US Context:
In the US, there have been discussions and proposals for windfall taxes on oil and gas companies, particularly in the wake of record profits and high energy prices.

European Union:
The European Union has agreed to impose an EU-wide windfall profits tax on fossil fuel companies to fund relief for households and businesses facing high energy prices.

UK:
The UK government introduced a windfall tax, called the Energy Profits Levy, on the "extraordinary" earnings of firms to help fund its scheme to lower gas and electricity bills.

Criticisms:
Some argue that windfall taxes can discourage investment and potentially lead to unintended consequences, while others argue that they are necessary to address unfair profits and ensure a fairer distribution of wealth.

Examples of Windfall Profits:
A company making high profits by selling drinking water to the public after a hurricane.

Energy companies profiting from a major oil shortage in another country.

Companies profiting from a surge in demand after lifting Covid restrictions.