> Low orbits do decay naturally in a few decades, yes, but MEO and GEO orbits can take thousands to millions of years to decay. Tens of years? Try tens of mon

> Low orbits do decay naturally in a few decades, yes, but MEO and GEO orbits can take thousands to millions of years to decay. Tens of years? Try tens of months. The ISS has a minimum mean altitute of 370 km, a max of 460 km, and within those parameters loses about 2 km per month. But the lower it gets, the faster it falls. When it's on the lower end of it's range, it falls about 3 km per month and that would accelerate rapidly if allowed to go lower. As it is, the ISS is boosted several times a year; five times this year so far: https://www.heavens-above.com/IssHeight.aspx https://www.heavens-above.com/IssHeight.aspx They can go as long as a few months without boosts, but not much longer than that. Not tens of years. The ISS is big and draggy, but the situation isn't much different for smaller satellites in similar orbits. Two test satellites for Starlink, Tintin A and B, were launched to about 500km in 2018. Both have subsequently burned up in the atmosphere after less than three years: https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=43216 https://www.n2yo.com/satellite/?s=43216 > It sounds like you're [...] ignoring the advice of experts Heh, forgive me for this but it seems like you have some half-baked ideas about Kessler syndrome you gleaned from popsci media. The reality is not so simple, nor as extreme, as you've made it out to be. Your estimates for LEO are about an order of magnitude off.