SpaceX’s satellites will populate the night sky, affecting how we observe the stars. And this is just the beginning of private satellite mega-constellations. Source: https://earthsky.org/human-world/will-spacex-starlink-satellites-ruin-stargazing…
Tag: orbital debris
Faint orbital debris that threatens satellites not being monitored closely enough, warn astronomers
University of Warwick astronomers are warning that orbital debris posing a threat to operational satellites is not being monitored closely enough, as they publish a new survey finding that over 75% of the orbital debris they detected could not be matched to known objects in public satellite catalogs. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-faint-orbital-debris-threatens-satellites.html…
Astronauts shelter as ISS boosted to avoid orbital debris
The International Space Station underwent an unscheduled reboost in orbit yesterday, to avoid a collision with an unknown piece of space junk. The 3-man crew was ordered to shelter, but is safe. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/astronauts-shelter-as-iss-boosted-to-avoid-orbital-debris…
For Space Junk Cleanup, DragRacer Satellite Will Test ‘Terminator Tape’ This Fall
schwit1 quotes Space.com: An experimental mission to test tether-based orbital debris cleanup methods with “Terminator Tape” is slated to launch this fall to test the deorbit performance of two satellites. The Millennium Space Systems mission, called DragRacer, involves two small satellites that are set to launch simultaneously to low Earth orbit (LEO) to measure how fast satellites fall out of space….