Clark Lindsey has a link roundup of stories on last week’s satellite collision.
3 thoughts on “Trashing LEO”
At the moment, no country has the technology to either guide these satellites to a safe location or bring them back to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Why?
Debris is scattered in orbits with wildly different planes and at many altitudes. Orbital planes include both inclination and factors like Right Ascention of the Ascending Node (RAAN). You could launch into a single plane and maneuver your way through a range of altitudes to rendezvous with a set of debris. For example, you might launch from the Cape into an orbit with an inclination of 28.5 degrees and a RAAN of 0 degrees. You could sweep through a range of altitudes within that plane fairly easily. However, you wouldn’t easily be able to rendezvous with something at a different inclination and/or RAAN. For great expense, you’d end up with a handful of pieces (or dead satellites) at best. It takes a lot of propellant to change your orbital plane so going after a lot of debris is beyond our technology.
I read a suggestion a few years ago of using ground based lasers to help deorbit debris. I have not heard anything about the idea for years.
At the moment, no country has the technology to either guide these satellites to a safe location or bring them back to burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Why?
Debris is scattered in orbits with wildly different planes and at many altitudes. Orbital planes include both inclination and factors like Right Ascention of the Ascending Node (RAAN). You could launch into a single plane and maneuver your way through a range of altitudes to rendezvous with a set of debris. For example, you might launch from the Cape into an orbit with an inclination of 28.5 degrees and a RAAN of 0 degrees. You could sweep through a range of altitudes within that plane fairly easily. However, you wouldn’t easily be able to rendezvous with something at a different inclination and/or RAAN. For great expense, you’d end up with a handful of pieces (or dead satellites) at best. It takes a lot of propellant to change your orbital plane so going after a lot of debris is beyond our technology.
I read a suggestion a few years ago of using ground based lasers to help deorbit debris. I have not heard anything about the idea for years.
Why?
Because space isn’t important.