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You guys argue over the urgency of this debris issue. So what can be done? Lasers seem to be the only viable option. Ground based lasers that can strike a piece of debris on its prograde side and move onto the next one.

Other then that... I got nothing. A giant net would be the quickest solution, but we best build that space elevator while we're at it :P

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You guys argue over the urgency of this debris issue. So what can be done? Lasers seem to be the only viable option. Ground based lasers that can strike a piece of debris on its prograde side and move onto the next one.

How exactly did you come to the conclusion lasers are the only solution? I have seen a variety of somewhat to quite serious projects with a whole host of solutions.

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How exactly did you come to the conclusion lasers are the only solution? I have seen a variety of somewhat to quite serious projects with a whole host of solutions.

Yeah but lasers seem to be the best choice... Certainly not the only viable option, but probably the only affordable one

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Yeah but lasers seem to be the best choice... Certainly not the only viable option, but probably the only affordable one

I think atomizing large structures with lazers is riddled with fundamental problems and technical difficulties. How are you going to make sure you hit enough of an object, while still having enough power to destroy your target? If you shoot the typical narrow laser beam, vapourizing material is just going to jet the parts away from the beam at high speed. How are you going to compensate for atmospheric pollution and turbulence? How are you going to deal with things being behind other things? Aircraft? Cooling? Powering the whole project?

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I think atomizing large structures with lazers is riddled with fundamental problems and technical difficulties. How are you going to make sure you hit enough of an object, while still having enough power to destroy your target? If you shoot the typical narrow laser beam, vapourizing material is just going to jet the parts away from the beam at high speed. How are you going to compensate for atmospheric pollution and turbulence? How are you going to deal with things being behind other things? Aircraft? Cooling? Powering the whole project?

I was under the impression of that being the idea. Not to destroy the debris, but to slow it down and deorbit. So its not like we need to make a super phaser gun. We just need to hit it with enough engergy to affect its velocity. And yes we'd have to be very careful at what were shooting at.

Build a very large laser in the Atacama mountains and it can deorbit debris around the clock across multiple inclinations.

Edited by Motokid600
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I was under the impression of that being the idea. Not to destroy the debris, but to slow it down and deorbit. So its not like we need to make a super phaser gun. We just need to hit it with enough engergy to affect its velocity. And yes we'd have to be very careful at what were shooting at.

Ah, that sounds rather more likely. I see issues with targeting though, so I am curious whether anyone has already cracked that one.

Smaller parts seem to remain a problem, but it is a good start.

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Thought they planned to put one on ISS ? (least, some materials on that exists ?)

One thing that's problematic though - the tracking needs to be good enough. You also need to ablate them the correct way, else it's not going to go not in space. It's also problematic if you have even higher debris, which means more dV to deorbit.

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  • 3 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
Are there plans to prevent the accumulation of additional debris? You know, preventing instead of healing.

Yes. You are not allowed to launch a satellite without a plan to mitigate launch debris and an end-of-life strategy for your spacecraft.

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Yes. You are not allowed to launch a satellite without a plan to mitigate launch debris and an end-of-life strategy for your spacecraft.

Maybe we should implement the obligation to de-orbit at least the launch weight of your satellite. De-orbiting your own machine is relatively cheap, but it that is not an option, you can go out and catch other debris. The fuel burned means everyone has to de-orbit a bit more than they sent up, so the excess space junk is slowly eaten away.

Launch 15 satellites, deorbit 15 satellites, of which one is a dedicated trash hunter. Make the (new) polluters pay for the clean-up.

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There a sparse belt of satellites at GEO altitude, but inclined 10-15 degrees. What might be the reason behind that? If anyone else can see it, that is.

Those are geosynchronous, but not geostationary satellites. Geostationary orbits remain in the same spot over the equator, which is ok for lower latitudes, but they can't provide coverage for higher latitudes such as Canada or South Africa. This is why some sats are at inclined geosynchronous orbits, which stay at roughly the same longitude but move around in the sky. They require a larger dish or a mobile one to track them.

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Yes. You are not allowed to launch a satellite without a plan to mitigate launch debris and an end-of-life strategy for your spacecraft.

And the strategy they pick is a graveyard orbit, one slightly higher that the operational, which only delays the problem and does not solve it.

Furthermore, according to this, only one third of the satellites are successfully boosted to a graveyard orbit, one third only partially and the rest just stay in GEO.

Apparently, you are required to decide what to do when the satellite is at the end of life, but nobody will punish you if you don't actually do it.

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