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airplanes will refuel when they land, satellites have limited propellant, so it really is a game of chicken or dare!
by DoctorOetker 7y ago
airplanes will refuel when they land, satellites have limited propellant, so it really is a game of chicken or dare!
- yreg 7y agoI don't understand the matter first hand, but I believe this comment I read on reddit today: The % of fuel used in this type of maneuver is negligible. A sat in LEO like this uses fuel to: - correct their orbit from the initial release from the rocket - maintain orbit - deorbit - avoidance The breakdown is something like: 66%, 33.5%, 0.45%, 0.05% The ESA sat in this case boosted their sat... which they planned on doing anyways. So it probably cost close to nothing. It maybe reduced the lifespan of the sat by 0.001% https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/cypvjv/this_morning_esas_aeolus_earth_observation/eyuoo9u/ https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/comments/cypvjv/this_morning...
- DoctorOetker 7y agoit's a matter of precedent, it's much harder to change rules and agreements when multiple stakeholders have planned on an assumed state of laissez faire, compared to learning from the first "conflicts".