Comment on US issues first ever fine for space junk to Dish Network

• NENathaniel@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Not necessarily how they’re viewing it.

  Once if was free, now it’s $150,000+ with the possibility of that increasing anytime

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• ThePantser@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

  Don’t tell ole muskrat.

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  • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    SpaceX satellites are in a different place so the rules and limits are different.

    Dish Network’s satellite is in geostationary orbit. This is a narrow 2 dimensional circular ban of space approximately 20,000 miles away from the Earth. Earth sits in the middle of the circle. This is very valuable space because how objects there have very little gravitational interference (rather gravity is canceled out by other source of gravity). The reason Dish Network was asked to move its old dead satellite was to make room for a new one to sit in the same place. Again, very limited space there. So when Dish Network didn’t move all the way out, it means its much harder (impossible) to use that space for someone else’s satellite. What’s worse is that it will take from 40 to 100 years for the Dish Network Satellite to fall out of orbit on its own. So unless a vehicle goes out and gets it to move it, that slot is unavailable for decades!

    SpaceX satellites, like thousands of others, are in LEO (low earth orbit). Instead of 20,000 miles away its about 200 miles from the surface of the Earth. Additionally, unlike geostationary, there’s no narrow band. its all the way around the Earth’s sphere. LEO is considered “self cleaning”. Any dead satellites in LEO will re-enter and burn up in 3 to 5 years. As in, do nothing and LEO satellites go away relatively soon.

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    • Nighed@sffa.community ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      I think you are getting confused between geostationary orbit and legrange points.

      Geostationary orbit is just the narrow band where you can have a stable orbit at the same speed as the earth’s rotation (so it stays in the same place in the sky) no other gravitational bodies involved.

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      • partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

        you’re absolutely right. I’ve edited my post to remove the Lagrange point logic and correct the value of geostationary orbits. Thank you :)

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    • Pxtl@lemmy.ca ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      The worry with the self cleaning band is the possibility of Kessler syndrome. See, the geosynchronous satellites are basically stationary relative to each other, and geosync is huge, so if one is junk, it’s stationary junk with nothing around it.

      LEO orbits, in the other hand, criss-cross each other in a maddening dance. And if one shatters into dozens of tiny projectiles, that could shatter another and another into a cascade of space shrapnel. And then low Earth orbit is closed. No starlink, no iss, no manned spacecraft, etc.

      It would self clean in a few decades. Three. Maybe five.

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    • JudCrandall@lemmy.world ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

      Thank you and @Nighed@sffa.community. That was a great explanation.

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  • ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de ⁨11⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago

    His fall downward and burn up in the atmosphere due to the low location. His actually leave no space junk in orbit.

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