Why Doesn T An Orbiting Satellite Fall Back To Earth

A satellite is a type of machine that orbits earth taking pictures and collecting information.

Why doesn t an orbiting satellite fall back to earth. Why don t satellites fall out of the sky. At altitudes of 500 miles 800 km the time for orbital decay is often measured in decades. Location to be decided that s just how it is with the majority of satellites some of them fall from their orbits but where they aim to come crashing down on our planet s surface is usually something we won t know until it actually. Why don t satellites crash into each other.

Though the orbiting lab is far larger than the space agency s defunct upper atmosphere research satellite uars which made an uncontrolled re entry through earth s atmosphere late friday night. We ve all seen it on the news satellite falls to its fiery doom or even more preemptively huge out of fuel satellite falling to earth very soon. The number of satellites orbiting earth is projected to quintuple. There is plenty of use of the words falling and horizontal motion but also rotational analogies like buckets of water and hammer throw.

The atmosphere doesn t have a sudden end or an edge to it. According to experts the problem is projected to get worse. Lead to disaster for any orbiting satellite. How do they all stay up there and why don t they just fall out of the sky.

The radius of the earth is about 6366 km so at 6366 km above the earth s surface the distance from the centre of the earth will have doubled. It is reserved for changing orbit or avoiding collision with debris. If it gains mass or slows down at all it will fall back into earth s atmosphere. By 2025 as many as 1 100 satellites could be launching each year.

The answers given here are a testimony to the effectiveness of mass hypnosis and collective sleep walking. A satellite orbiting closer to the earth requires more velocity to resist the stronger gravitational pull. If you throw a ball into the air the ball comes right back down. There are thousands of satellites orbiting earth right now.

So why doesn t a 1000 kg satellite just fall back to earth. Satellites do carry their own fuel supply but unlike how a car uses gas it is not needed to maintain speed for orbit. Debris left in orbits below 370 miles 600 km normally fall back to earth within several years.