6 ms·

It won't be centuries. starlink satellites are in low orbits and will deorbit in a few years at most if bricked; to stay in orbit, they use ion thrusters to co

• titzer 2mo ago
  When satellites smash into each other at high velocity, they explode. Some of that debris will end up in higher orbits and linger.
  • Polizeiposaune 2mo ago
    Some of the debris from a collision may end up in an orbit with a higher apogee, perigee will necessarily still be at or below the altitude of the last collision and will be subject to some of the same low-orbit aerodynamic drag that starlink satellites experience; passes through lower altitudes will apply drag that will first drop the apogee and will then eventually cause the debris to reenter.
  • audunw 2mo ago
    How can it linger in a higher orbit. Maybe some of the debris gets a kick which increases its velocity, but you need two velocity boosts to circularise the orbit, no? So I figure at worst you get an elliptical orbit which will still decay
  • moralestapia 2mo ago
    Nope, if it goes up it will go down even faster. Orbits are about speed. Two things colliding cannot have debris coming out at a faster velocity than either of them.