THE CASCADE

Years ago, two satellites collided, scattering debris through high Earth orbit. Though small, the debris was moving at great speed, and soon this cloud of plastic and metal made contact with more satellites, growing the cloud and triggering a cascade of collisions. Everything in that orbit range was obliterated, and the Earth was enshrouded in a deadly shell of particles that was, for a time, impossible to pass. 

New projects such as Open Skies and Cloud Breaker were spawned in existing space programs, quickly developing and deploying technology to pierce the veil and allow safe passage. Quantum-magnetizers were deployed to induce ferromagnetism in large chunks of particles no matter the material, which allowed shuttles to attract and remove most of the Cascade. Now the Cascade is just another weather consideration that needs to be made when plotting ascension from Earth, though it does still cause the occasional partial-eclipse.