[walrus01]

I concur with this, and also, one possible solution to this from a technical perspective is to increase the amount of fuel carried for ion/hall effect and similar thrusters (high specific impulse, low thrust) for periodic orbit raising maneuvers to extend lifetime.

Theoretically, as $ per kg launch costs come down with things like reusable falcon 9, it makes it much less costly to equip medium sized LEO satellite with more fuel than it might have costed 10 or 15 years ago.

Or if you have something that needs to orbit really low and minimize drag/maximize lifespan, you could design it to be particularly aerodynamic and shaped like this:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gravity_Field_and_Steady-State...