Interesting question. If you can pick up trash, are all the "defunct" satellites also fair game? How about the operational ones?
Wouldn't that be a hell of a prospectus for a satellite communications company: "We're going to eliminate our competition and control the market through physical dominance." I can hear the Venture money getting erect already.
Elon would spend a billion. Plus Elon already has other objects in space and a history of putting more up there. He may just spend money to intercept your theft to prove to the military that his tech can make interceptions “cheap and efficient”. It would be a great demo for the up coming space wars.
Wouldn't that be a hell of a prospectus for a satellite communications company: "We're going to eliminate our competition and control the market through physical dominance." I can hear the Venture money getting erect already.