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They say no other debris caused an impact. Is it common that decommissioned satellite explode? Could a laser be a possibility?

euroderf 2y ago
Perhaps Ukrainian drones reaching new heights.
- bell-cot 2y ago
  With their current situation, I suspect the Ukrainians have far higher-priority targets than defunct Russian satellites.
  - aaron695 2y ago
    [dead]
ahazred8ta 2y ago
Is it common that a satellite explodes? Yes. Dozens of satellites have exploded. For example, the Russian Kosmos series has a history of battery leaks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Spacecraft_that_broke_apart_in_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Spacecraft_that_broke...
- inglor_cz 2y ago
  Remembering the 1980s, Eastern Bloc consumer-grade batteries were bad enough to destroy appliances. Soviet batteries in particular; it was a known rule that if you can find a GDR or Czechoslovak-made battery for your radio etc., you just don't risk a "Sdelano v CCCP" one. If Soviet space engineering suffered from the same problem, which is likely (already Korolev fought a massive and angry battle against badly manufactured satellite parts), there is quite a lot of batteries aging dangerously up there.
  - kalleboo 2y ago
    Same for western batteries of the 80s-early 90s. In the retro Mac community the Maxell lithium batteries are referred to as “Maxell bombs” since they have a failure mode where spray acid all over the inside of the machine, not just leaking on the motherboard
bell-cot 2y ago
Most satellites have propulsion systems - both to tweak their orbits, and to help adjust their orientation in space. "Decommissioned" does not mean that all the pressurized tanks for those propulsion system are empty, nor de-pressurized. And as any aerospace materials engineer knows, things degrade over time... BTW - the chemicals in those propulsion tanks are often quite nasty, and prone to "energetic" reactions.

euroderf 2y ago

Perhaps Ukrainian drones reaching new heights.

bell-cot 2y ago
With their current situation, I suspect the Ukrainians have far higher-priority targets than defunct Russian satellites.
- aaron695 2y ago
  [dead]

ahazred8ta 2y ago

Is it common that a satellite explodes? Yes. Dozens of satellites have exploded. For example, the Russian Kosmos series has a history of battery leaks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Spacecraft_that_broke_apart_in_space https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Spacecraft_that_broke...

inglor_cz 2y ago
Remembering the 1980s, Eastern Bloc consumer-grade batteries were bad enough to destroy appliances. Soviet batteries in particular; it was a known rule that if you can find a GDR or Czechoslovak-made battery for your radio etc., you just don't risk a "Sdelano v CCCP" one. If Soviet space engineering suffered from the same problem, which is likely (already Korolev fought a massive and angry battle against badly manufactured satellite parts), there is quite a lot of batteries aging dangerously up there.
- kalleboo 2y ago
  Same for western batteries of the 80s-early 90s. In the retro Mac community the Maxell lithium batteries are referred to as “Maxell bombs” since they have a failure mode where spray acid all over the inside of the machine, not just leaking on the motherboard

bell-cot 2y ago

Most satellites have propulsion systems - both to tweak their orbits, and to help adjust their orientation in space. "Decommissioned" does not mean that all the pressurized tanks for those propulsion system are empty, nor de-pressurized. And as any aerospace materials engineer knows, things degrade over time... BTW - the chemicals in those propulsion tanks are often quite nasty, and prone to "energetic" reactions.