4 ms·
I think there would be a Kessler Syndrome within a few weeks of an anti-satellite campaign at which point trying to launch replacements wouldn't make any sense.
by jordanb 1mo ago
I think there would be a Kessler Syndrome within a few weeks of an anti-satellite campaign at which point trying to launch replacements wouldn't make any sense.
- eagerpace 1mo agoNo, there wouldn’t be. Space is huge. There aren’t that many satellites, and even the largest are relatively small.
- tatjam 1mo agoI presume "anti-satellite campaign" means hundreds of anti-satellite missiles launched into LEO / MEO, at which point we do have a serious problem
- eagerpace 1mo agoKessler Syndrome is a very specific accusation. It would be a disaster for sure, but not KS.
- detourdog 1mo agoThey are small until they are blown into a million pieces.
- toss1 1mo agoWouldn't that depend a lot on what and how much were targeted? Seems a sufficient number of satellites in a particular orbital altitude and inclination would be required to create a self-sustaining cascade. Even then, the Delta-V of tens to hundreds of m/sec to for violent intercepts seems unlikely to eject debris into different orbital regimes; e.g., it takes nearly 4km/sec Delta-V to move from LEO to Geosynchronous orbit. So, totally Kessler-Syndrome-destroying the LEO orbital range would still leave GEO orbital range available...?
- jordanb 1mo agoDepending on the density of debris in LEO it might be very difficult to launch through to the higher orbits.