3 ms·

Your suggestion does not comport with reality. > collision speeds would be measured in millimeters per second, and forces in millinewtons. What satellite endi

Your suggestion does not comport with reality. > collision speeds would be measured in millimeters per second, and forces in millinewtons. What satellite ending their end of life, and already in orbit do you suggest are capable of such delicate manoeuvring? This is a very delicate task you are describing, and most satellites are simply not designed for it. > The main risk is that the satellites touch at the 'wrong angle' or blocking an attitude control thruster. If someone tries this, the most likely outcome is that the satelites wizz by each other without ever touching. If you somehow manage to aim the "pushing" satellite accurately enough at the "stranded" satellite they would most likely collide at anything from a few hundred meter/s to a few of km/s depending on the orbital arrangements.

msandford 3y ago
I don't think you understand what geostationary orbit is. They all have to be going the same direction (with the Earth's rotation) or else it isn't stationary (not moving) over the geo (earth). As a result I think you're misunderstanding what the orbital dynamics would be.
- krisoft 3y ago
  > I don't think you understand what geostationary orbit is. I do understand what geostationary orbit is. The commenter I was responding to said "any other satellite who is travelling from one orbit to the other can stop off on-route for no fuel or time cost". If they wanted to only talk about geo sats they should have said that. But sure, let's think about using a geo sat to fly this intercept. Let's just pick Echostar-8 as a concrete example. It is at 6.4 degree inclination while Echostart-7 is at 1.5 degree. So you will at best have a glancing blow between these two.
londons_explore 3y ago
This[1] is the typical satellites thruster: https://www.satnow.com/products/thrusters/space-electric-thruster-systems-sets-/36-1151-st-40 https://www.satnow.com/products/thrusters/space-electric-thr... It has a thrust of ~20 milli Newtons. Power that up for 10 seconds on a satellite weighing 500 kg, and you will move an extra 0.4 millimeters per second. So how exactly is precise maneuvering hard?
- dotnet00 3y ago
  GEO satellites typically don't use hall effect thrusters for much. Primary propulsion for large GEO satellites is typically a hypergolic system. Ion thrusters, if present, are typically a station keeping tool. For example, the satellite bus used by EchoStar-7, which is the satellite in question here (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_A2100 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_A2100) uses Hydrazine and NTO for primary propulsion, with hydrazine monoprop for atittude control, and the monoprop thrusters and ion thrusters for station keeping. While the new version of that bus has the option for all-electric propulsion, it really isn't clear how popular that option has actually been. There aren't really many details about it.
- jaywalk 3y ago
  > This[1] is the typical satellites thruster: Define "typical" because it's not being used on any geostationary satellites. > Power that up for 10 seconds on a satellite weighing 500 kg 500kg? Hilarious. These satellites are the size of a bus and their weights are measured in tons.

msandford 3y ago

I don't think you understand what geostationary orbit is. They all have to be going the same direction (with the Earth's rotation) or else it isn't stationary (not moving) over the geo (earth). As a result I think you're misunderstanding what the orbital dynamics would be.

krisoft 3y ago
> I don't think you understand what geostationary orbit is. I do understand what geostationary orbit is. The commenter I was responding to said "any other satellite who is travelling from one orbit to the other can stop off on-route for no fuel or time cost". If they wanted to only talk about geo sats they should have said that. But sure, let's think about using a geo sat to fly this intercept. Let's just pick Echostar-8 as a concrete example. It is at 6.4 degree inclination while Echostart-7 is at 1.5 degree. So you will at best have a glancing blow between these two.

londons_explore 3y ago

This[1] is the typical satellites thruster: https://www.satnow.com/products/thrusters/space-electric-thruster-systems-sets-/36-1151-st-40 https://www.satnow.com/products/thrusters/space-electric-thr... It has a thrust of ~20 milli Newtons. Power that up for 10 seconds on a satellite weighing 500 kg, and you will move an extra 0.4 millimeters per second. So how exactly is precise maneuvering hard?

dotnet00 3y ago
GEO satellites typically don't use hall effect thrusters for much. Primary propulsion for large GEO satellites is typically a hypergolic system. Ion thrusters, if present, are typically a station keeping tool. For example, the satellite bus used by EchoStar-7, which is the satellite in question here (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_A2100 https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_Martin_A2100) uses Hydrazine and NTO for primary propulsion, with hydrazine monoprop for atittude control, and the monoprop thrusters and ion thrusters for station keeping. While the new version of that bus has the option for all-electric propulsion, it really isn't clear how popular that option has actually been. There aren't really many details about it.
jaywalk 3y ago
> This[1] is the typical satellites thruster: Define "typical" because it's not being used on any geostationary satellites. > Power that up for 10 seconds on a satellite weighing 500 kg 500kg? Hilarious. These satellites are the size of a bus and their weights are measured in tons.