It’s only junk if they are useless, which the functional satellites are definitely not.
I think the dead ones come down pretty quick, can’t remember what the exact timing is from their full orbit though. (It’s weeks from their launch orbit)
Just to tack on a little more seriously fucking important point to the space junk thing… When a certain level is reached, we will be trapped on this planet, because the space junk flying around at 5000km/s will destroy anything trying to leave.
It still takes 5 years and with the amount of satellites Musk wants to put into LEO, there’s a lot of chances for dead satellites to get turned into thousands of tiny bullets which will take out even more satellites and it turns into a runaway catastrophe.
The more finely sub-divided a satellite becomes the more rapidly atmospheric drag causes its orbit to decay.
Also, there’s basically only Starlink satellites at the altitude these are being placed in, and nothing in lower altitudes. So a brief burst of orbital debris would only inconvenience Starlink itself.
You misunderstand Kessler syndrome. It doesn’t “trap us on this planet”, all it does is make certain orbital regions no longer hospitable to satellites orbiting within those regions. Launching through those orbits would be fine, the payload passing through them wouldn’t spend long enough in there to be at significant risk of impact. You only get an unacceptable risk of impact if you remain there for years.
Also, Starlink satellites are at a low enough altitude that if they were to be disrupted the bits would fall out of orbit in a matter of months. That region is basically Kessler-proof.
Why is this good news, exactly?
It depends on if you are okay with the night sky being flooded with space junk that makes doing astronomy harder or not
Or if you like hearing news about Muskrat eating shit
Well, good news. Starlink satellites have been steadily improving over time in that regard.
That’s a rule for life: Always start with doing the very worst shit that is thinkable at all.
Then improve gradually, but make sure that you talk about it every time. Every little bit of improvement is good news.
From the very worst shit to second worst shit…
From the second worst shit to third worst shit…
From the third worst shit …
From the fourth worst…
It’s only junk if they are useless, which the functional satellites are definitely not.
I think the dead ones come down pretty quick, can’t remember what the exact timing is from their full orbit though. (It’s weeks from their launch orbit)
Just to tack on a little more seriously fucking important point to the space junk thing… When a certain level is reached, we will be trapped on this planet, because the space junk flying around at 5000km/s will destroy anything trying to leave.
The Space junk thing is very serious but Starlink is not a problem in that regard.
The are such a low orbit they will de-orbit due to atmospheric drag with no input or de-orbit burn required.
That is what this story is about…
It is all the other sats from MEO to GEO that are the problem.
It still takes 5 years and with the amount of satellites Musk wants to put into LEO, there’s a lot of chances for dead satellites to get turned into thousands of tiny bullets which will take out even more satellites and it turns into a runaway catastrophe.
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The more finely sub-divided a satellite becomes the more rapidly atmospheric drag causes its orbit to decay.
Also, there’s basically only Starlink satellites at the altitude these are being placed in, and nothing in lower altitudes. So a brief burst of orbital debris would only inconvenience Starlink itself.
You misunderstand Kessler syndrome. It doesn’t “trap us on this planet”, all it does is make certain orbital regions no longer hospitable to satellites orbiting within those regions. Launching through those orbits would be fine, the payload passing through them wouldn’t spend long enough in there to be at significant risk of impact. You only get an unacceptable risk of impact if you remain there for years.
Also, Starlink satellites are at a low enough altitude that if they were to be disrupted the bits would fall out of orbit in a matter of months. That region is basically Kessler-proof.