It sounded a little absurd, but being a cosmic traffic cop was nowhere near as easy as it seemed.
The Solar System was huge, sure, but the space around Earth was limited. Back when different countries launched all kinds of space equipment, the launches were spread out over time and relatively few in number, so unless someone did it on purpose, collisions were basically unheard of.
But ever since Stark took charge of the Solar System development and construction plan, determined to advance humanity's technology as a whole, he had released quite a few space transport technologies to various countries.
His intentions were good. He wanted to spark a technological arms race, encouraging every nation to play to its strengths, develop more specialized technologies based on his own, and push the side branches further.
Originally, he imagined that every country would hold back for as long as possible. Then, once they could no longer contain themselves, they would slot their new spacecraft into an existing series, bump the number up a little, and claim it was merely a modification of an old craft.
He was not wrong to think so. Every country did this with weapons. Even the more high-profile nations that loved showing off every new invention definitely kept something in reserve.
But perhaps the coming space age had given every country a shot of adrenaline. Or perhaps the return of the Iron Curtain had everyone so tense they were losing their minds. Once every nation unlocked transport technology, they began launching every imaginable kind of transport device into space as if it cost nothing.
They did not know where they were supposed to transport these things, what they were supposed to be used for, or how they were supposed to retrieve them later. They just kept throwing them