4 ms·

In low-earth orbit space debris will just fall into the atmosphere pretty quickly because they have no maintenance burns.

• CapitalistCartr 9y ago
  It often takes decades. There is still debris from the 1960s in LEO, which has a lot. Five satellite collisions have complicated things. I suggest this Wikipedia article: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_debris "Below 2,000 km (1,200 mi) Earth-altitude, debris are denser than meteoroids; most are dust from solid rocket motors, surface erosion debris like paint flakes, and frozen coolant from RORSAT nuclear-powered satellites." And the journal Orbital Debris Quarterly https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/quarterly-news/newsletter.html https://orbitaldebris.jsc.nasa.gov/quarterly-news/newsletter...
  • outworlder 9y ago
    2000km is not low earth orbit.
    • jdietrich 9y ago
      >low Earth orbit (LEO), generally defined as an orbit below an altitude of approximately 2,000 kilometers (1,200 mi) https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/impacts/satellite-drag https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/impacts/satellite-drag
    • CapitalistCartr 9y ago
      As the article explains its debris below 2,000 km. Such as "DMSP-F13, launched in 1995—exploded while in a sun-synchronous polar orbit leaving a debris field of at least 43 to 100 large fragments and more than 50,000 pieces smaller than 1 millimeter" which is about 450 nautical miles.