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Junk & Inclined Orbits
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<blockquote data-quote="Analoguesat" data-source="post: 149698" data-attributes="member: 176362"><p>Junk orbits are about 100km higher or lower than the geostationary orbits so drift faster or slower than the earth rotation. Satellites lowered will drift faster, satellites raised will drift slower. </p><p></p><p>Nowadays the operators try to leave a small reserve of fuel on board until the last few days of controlled operation so the satellites can be moved. The last dregs of fuel are used to move the satellite off the geostationary arc, then the final commands are uplinked to the satellite to "safe" it. The fuel valves are opened to drain the tanks (no accidental explosions wanted) and I think the batteries are shorted too on newer bird. The satellites will drift around the earth for thousands of years. Junk orbit is a much safer option than leaving the satellite in place on the orbital arc - gravitational effects would cause a satellite to eventually drift off station with the possibility of collisions in space. (There are a few dead satellites on the geostationary arc - normally those that have suffered a terminal breakdown in service - Intelsat 804 springs to mind.)</p><p></p><p>Incl;ined satellites dont drift around the arc - when the station keeping fuel runs low, noth south station keping is reduced to a minimum, so the satellite starts to wobble up and down off the main arc. Imagine the satellite describing a huge figure 8 in space with the middle node being its geostationary point. Inclined orbiting stretches the useful life of a satellite for another 4 or 5 years, although special dish tracking is required once the inclination gets above about 2 degrees.</p><p></p><p>In the next 5 years or so a company hopes to put a space tug into service which would extend the useful life of satellites - its almost always the case that the fuel runs out before the satellite fails, so if they could be "refueled" they could have several more years service.</p><p></p><p>Had the space tug:</p><p></p><p><a href="http://www.orbitalrecovery.com/" target="_blank">http://www.orbitalrecovery.com/</a></p><p></p><p>been in service it may have saved Astra 1K when it was stranded in low earth orbit 3 years ago.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Analoguesat, post: 149698, member: 176362"] Junk orbits are about 100km higher or lower than the geostationary orbits so drift faster or slower than the earth rotation. Satellites lowered will drift faster, satellites raised will drift slower. Nowadays the operators try to leave a small reserve of fuel on board until the last few days of controlled operation so the satellites can be moved. The last dregs of fuel are used to move the satellite off the geostationary arc, then the final commands are uplinked to the satellite to "safe" it. The fuel valves are opened to drain the tanks (no accidental explosions wanted) and I think the batteries are shorted too on newer bird. The satellites will drift around the earth for thousands of years. Junk orbit is a much safer option than leaving the satellite in place on the orbital arc - gravitational effects would cause a satellite to eventually drift off station with the possibility of collisions in space. (There are a few dead satellites on the geostationary arc - normally those that have suffered a terminal breakdown in service - Intelsat 804 springs to mind.) Incl;ined satellites dont drift around the arc - when the station keeping fuel runs low, noth south station keping is reduced to a minimum, so the satellite starts to wobble up and down off the main arc. Imagine the satellite describing a huge figure 8 in space with the middle node being its geostationary point. Inclined orbiting stretches the useful life of a satellite for another 4 or 5 years, although special dish tracking is required once the inclination gets above about 2 degrees. In the next 5 years or so a company hopes to put a space tug into service which would extend the useful life of satellites - its almost always the case that the fuel runs out before the satellite fails, so if they could be "refueled" they could have several more years service. Had the space tug: [url]http://www.orbitalrecovery.com/[/url] been in service it may have saved Astra 1K when it was stranded in low earth orbit 3 years ago. [/QUOTE]
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