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Now I barely know much about this, but I recall reading something that the space debris isn't actually that big of a deal. Since most satellites go in one direc

Now I barely know much about this, but I recall reading something that the space debris isn't actually that big of a deal. Since most satellites go in one direction (with the exception of israel, which has to launch retrograde orbits for political reasons), the actual speed delta between any 2 objects which are close to each other is fairly small. You really only need a bit of forethought about how to safely "deorbit" your crafts, and some working together to avoid trying to put 2 things in the same spot. Combine that with the fact that space is still REALLY big (the surface area of any single orbit is still larger than the surface area of the earth), means that it's not as much of a problem as I thought it would be. I don't mean to downplay it, it's still rocket science after all, but I think the worry of a massive wall of debris which makes it impossible for any craft to get past is closer to science fiction than it is to real life.

jjallen 10y ago
Interesting. Just looked up why Israel launches them retrograde (counter to the Earth's rotation which costs more energy to launch). It's so launch debris doesn't land in populated areas, it lands in the unpopulated Mediterranean instead. Make sense. Also these fully orbit the earth in 90 minutes, so theoretically you could get more time-resolution out of retrograde orbiting satellites (though I'm guessing there are other benefits of going with the Earth's rotation).
- hueving 10y ago
  The energy requirement is the massive reason why launches are primarily prograde. Even the time resolution you mentioned isn't much of and advantage of retrograde because a prograde satellite can get the same period at a lower altitude.
7952 10y ago
Certain classes of satellite (like remote sensing) use sun synchronous orbits which are slightly retograde. It allows the orbit to precess slightly to keep tracking the sun as the earth rotates on its axis.

jjallen 10y ago

Interesting. Just looked up why Israel launches them retrograde (counter to the Earth's rotation which costs more energy to launch). It's so launch debris doesn't land in populated areas, it lands in the unpopulated Mediterranean instead. Make sense. Also these fully orbit the earth in 90 minutes, so theoretically you could get more time-resolution out of retrograde orbiting satellites (though I'm guessing there are other benefits of going with the Earth's rotation).

hueving 10y ago
The energy requirement is the massive reason why launches are primarily prograde. Even the time resolution you mentioned isn't much of and advantage of retrograde because a prograde satellite can get the same period at a lower altitude.

7952 10y ago

Certain classes of satellite (like remote sensing) use sun synchronous orbits which are slightly retograde. It allows the orbit to precess slightly to keep tracking the sun as the earth rotates on its axis.