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Space may be the final frontier, but before we explore the distant edge of the universe, there’s the challenge of navigating the more than 100 million pieces of orbital debris spinning around Earth at speeds approaching 20,000 mph.

The human-made objects include nonworking spacecraft, abandoned launch vehicle stages, and mission-related and fragmentation debris.

Enter Dan Schutter, founder and CEO of Space Interactions Inc. in Sterling Heights, who has developed what he describes as the world’s most comprehensive space object and tracking system ever assembled.

“We created a digital platform for space infrastructure,” says Schutter, who earned a business marketing degree at Northwood University in Midland and is self-taught in aerospace. “I recognized the need for software solutions to track space debris and sell it as an enterprise subscription service.”

The potential customer base includes multiple government agencies, aerospace manufacturers like SpaceX, defense contractors, and some 1,600 satellite companies based around the world. Consider in 2010 there were 1,000 satellites in orbit around Earth; today there are more than 7,000 such spacecraft.

According to Schutter, 75 different countries have at least one satellite in orbit, and each nation is responsible for their spacecraft.

“If there was a legal matter that came about, you would sue a given country and not the manufacturers or suppliers of a spacecraft,” he notes. “Still, there’s all kinds of debris in near orbit that must be navigated and identified.”

During a recent demonstration of the Forerunner software system, which can viewed at Interactions.Space, Schutter navigated a range of options that include finding a given satellite or debris object, collision reports, mapping programs, launch schedules, and other data.

So far, the company’s Space Surveillance Network tracks more than 30,000 pieces of debris — a fraction of what’s in orbit. Schutter launched the company in 2011 after seeing Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX, successfully assemble, and now systematically launch, commercial rockets.

Today, Space Interactions has five employees and has raised more than $200,000 in operating funds.

The goal is to begin offering a subscription service by the end of the year.

“Once we get the service up, we’ll use AI (artificial intelligence) to predict when the next crash between satellites occurs,” he says. “Another customer base is the retrieval companies that will be developed to locate precious metals like gold and silver that are found within satellites.”

Schutter says his technology can support wayfinding systems like GPS that are used today to power navigation-related services in the automotive, aircraft, and construction sectors.

“I’d like to see Michigan become the aerospace capital of the world, and we can do it because we have hundreds of precision manufacturers,” he says. “We have the technical capability, we’re closer to orbit than most parts of the world, and we have the engineering talent.”