Large constellations of satellites, such as those launched by SpaceX this week, could clutter Earth's orbit with dangerous space junk, experts have warned.

On Thursday, SpaceX launched a rocket carrying the first 60 satellites of its "Starlink" constellation, which is intended to provide internet to remote regions of Earth from space.

Eventually, the company wants to launch nearly 12,000 spacecraft, each weighing nearly  227kg. If successful, the constellation would dwarf the 2,000 satellites that are currently in orbit.

“Large constellations with several thousand satellites need to be designed and operated with much more care than the usual space traffic in order to avoid a disaster”, says Dr...