[ErnstStavroBlofeld]

In 1959, NASA built ECHO One, which was a balloon was designed to reflect radio signals from one place on earth to another, the first time that feat would be accomplished using an artificial satellite. Oddly enough, however, when this pioneering communications-satellite project was first conceived, it involved neither communications nor satellites.This can be built if satellites are ever cut off.

[Captain Beyond]

Wow cool good to see we got a back up plan.

[plsvn]

This can be built if satellites are ever cut off.

Echo was a ultra thin skin balloon. If lower earth orbit is full of space junk, how long before a large target like that is hit, deflates, is shreaded, and becomes useless? Alot like what happened to the Pageos balloon that was orbited in a higher, presumably safer orbit, back around 1970.