3 ms·
> there is a lot more space the further out you go. This made curious how much more space you get, so I did some maths. According to Wikipedia, LEO is basical
by ryankrage77 5y ago
> there is a lot more space the further out you go.
This made curious how much more space you get, so I did some maths.
According to Wikipedia, LEO is basically anything below 2000KM, so we'll call 1000KM the average.
Geostationary orbit is apparently 35,786KM above the surface (at the equator. The earth is not a perfect sphere).
The diameter of the earth is 12,742KM, making the circumference of this LEO ~43,171KM
Let's say there's 10KM between every piece of debris, meaning you can fit 4317 piece of debris into this orbit. (that's not how it really works of course, this is just an arbitary number to use as a comparison).
At geostationary orbit, the circumference is ~152,000KM, meaning the same 4317 pieces of debris would now be ~35KM apart instead. Or you could fit 15,200 peices of debris in, still spaced 10KM apart. Or you could say you have ~252% more space at the higher orbit.