5 ms·
yeah, from what I've read they will have enough fuel to stay aloft for ~5 years. They won't be a source of permanent space debris.
by maccam94 9y ago
yeah, from what I've read they will have enough fuel to stay aloft for ~5 years. They won't be a source of permanent space debris.
- oh_sigh 9y agoIsn't space debris more about collisions which spew out thousands of tiny bits which are hard to track and may have a ludicrous velocity relative to things they run into? AIUI, large objects a relatively easy to track and avoid if you have the gas and are on a collision course.
- azernik 9y agoEvery satellite floating around without maneuvering capabilities is one more chance for that existing tiny debris to hit something and cause a chain reaction.
- maccam94 9y agoThe worst kind of space debris sits in orbits outside of the atmosphere where there is negligible drag. Since these satellites will be in very low orbits that require propulsion to stay aloft, any potential debris from collisions or inoperable satellites will fall back to Earth relatively quickly. https://www.nasa.gov/news/debris_faq.html https://www.nasa.gov/news/debris_faq.html
- Kemschumam 9y agoThe majority of currently tracked space debris is the result of a single anti-satellite missile test China conducted. So less collisions more weapon based destruction. And any future conflict (between nation's reliant upon gps guided weapons)will likely start with anti-satellite warfare. This worries me greatly.
- nasredin 9y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_missile_test https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Chinese_anti-satellite_mi...