I tend not to collect single purpose devices as they take up too much space in my limited storage, and a warm cabinet made by my oven light is good enough for some homemade sourdough which we make about once a week.
rockyTron
The biggest hazard is launching the payload, if it fails it falls out over a large area causing contamination of the nuclear fuel. The high orbit of the test vehicle lowers the risks for the other outcomes you identified, and they are planned to remain in these so called "disposal orbits" for many hundreds of years. Things can get very very far apart in space. The Russian recon satellites were operated in low earth orbit and their failures were well documented and even attempted to mitigate by the soviets, though they did fail with very bad consequences at least three times.
Isn't it sort of a walled garden that way, an industry captured by and protected by this large barrier to entry which ensures a supply of jobs to those to ex-military pilots? Seems to happen in a lot of industries, artificially limiting supply to protect a pre existing privilege. Or am I just imagining things, I'm not familiar with the aviation industry.
Have another look at Ecco's they're exactly what you're looking for. There are good models for 1-200 dollars that last for years and are great for putting city miles on. I got a pair about four years ago when I was commuting on busses and going through cheap shoes every couple months. They're still in great shape and clean up nice.
Is it just like a temp controlled cabinet?