Space is becoming quite a hot spot these days. From the GPS systems that get us home to satellite radio, all kinds of businesses want a place in the galactic market, but could all of this spell trouble for those of us here on Earth?

, according to Marketplace.org. The space just a few hundred miles above earth has become so crowded that NASA spends $7 million each year keeping track of it all. With all of that equipment in such a confined space, collisions are bound to happen, and they do.

(MORE:)

when it crashed head on with one from Russia. The debris from that accident doesn’t float away either. It stays in Earth’s orbit and continues to circle around the planet. That high above the Earth’s surface, even a speck of paint from a damaged satellite can make impact at speeds over 10,000 mph.

The phenomenon even has a name: The Kessler Syndrome, after former NASA scientist Donald Kessler who warned of the problem back in the late 1970s.

“We’re at what we call a 'critical density' — where there are enough large objects in space that they will collide with one another and create small debris faster than it can be removed,” Kessler told Marketplace.

All it takes is one collision for everyone with a satellite in space to have to worry about hazardous debris crossing their path. The space junk issue has become so significant that Kessler came out of retirement to echo the same warnings he gave three decades ago.

Kessler and his colleagues have warned that solving the problem will not be simple either. Larger objects must be brought back to Earth. Objects that weren’t designed to ever be removed from space.

"” Kessler told The Huffington Post. “Just go up and start picking up things one at a time."

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: SpaceX Debris Discovered

Rocket Wreckage

Debris from the SpaceX Falcon 9 crash is seen along the beach of Elbow Cay in the Bahamas on Friday, May 29, 2015. (All photos courtesy of Kevin Eichelberger)