Questions tagged [artificial-satellite]
Questions about objects in orbit which are human made, such as communications and GPS satellites, orbital observatories and space stations, and other man-made object in permanent or semi-permanent orbits around the Earth, other celestial objects, aside from the Sun, or even other satellites. Not to be confused with non-orbited man-made objects in space, that are usually referred to as "probes", or simply "spacecraft".
888 questions
3votes
3answers
225views
How to estimate the orbital height from the time it takes a satellite to cross the sky?
Let's say it takes 5 minutes for the little "star" I observe at night to cross the sky from horizon to horizon. If one assumes a circular orbit and that the object in question is indeed in ...
17votes
3answers
4kviews
Why disable Gaia?
March 27, Gaia was disabled and sent to a solar orbit. I understand why ESA send it to a solar orbit (Kessler Syndrome), but I don’t understand why ESA had disable the spacecraft. Is there some risk ...
12votes
3answers
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How is maintenance, repair and refueling done on satellites currently?
Satellites can be monumentally expensive. Surely companies don't always accept them being decommissioned due to damage, decay or deorbiting. How are these handled currently?
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9votes
1answer
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Could we possibly send a cubesat to Proxima Centauri? [duplicate]
Could we send a functional satellite in orbit of the closest star after the Sun? Napkin calculation gives 80 000 years at the rate Voyager 1 is going. What about a small craft, propelled with a large ...
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5votes
1answer
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Could the 2029 approach of 99942 Apophis perturb the orbits of GSO satellites?
Thinking about this question, I remembered that on the 13th of April 2029, the asteroid 99422 Apophis will pass within geostationary orbit distance - Apophis will be around 31,600 kilometres at ...
- 3,405
13votes
5answers
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What are the use cases and challenges for a cubesat that would take pictures of other satellites?
I am currently working with a university team in designing a cubesat. I would like to propose to the team that we design a satellite that is able to take pictures of other satellites orbiting nearby. ...
10votes
1answer
1kviews
How does JPL Horizons know where satellites are?
JPL Horizons offers various interfaces to query for ephemeris tables of various artificial satellites. I've read that spacecraft trajectory plans may be submitted in advance, but since actual ...
- 301
4votes
0answers
152views
Ready-made tool for satellite maneuver detection
I am looking for a tool to detect satellite maneuvers from TLE data. The tool should be easy-to- apply (not my field at all) to many satellites, i.e., not rely on visual inspection or similar. Shorten ...
- 409
8votes
1answer
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Can a thunderstorm affect a satellite in low earth orbit?
Clouds build up strong static electric charges. Magnetism is an emergent phenomenon of the length contraction of electric fields. Due to the strength of EM interaction, even very slow movement can ...
-4votes
2answers
321views
Why don't satellites use distance covered to achieve 100% accuracy in time sync?
Current satellites experience an error of 38 micro seconds per day. But can be 100% accurate by using Earth as a natural clock, where: For every 8.26 kms covered = 1 second(considering earth's ...
- 19
10votes
2answers
2kviews
Are there any CubeSat telescopes? What are the requirements?
Are there any CubeSats that perform as telescopes for deep-space photography? If I have a CubeSat of let's say 6U, designed for Earth Observation (meaning it could be restricted in terms of the camera ...
- 131
3votes
4answers
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How do I request to use a satellite?
I've been asked for my job to do research on satellites with multi-channel sensors for chlorophyll a detection. We want to use one for a project like this one, preferably free-to-use. I have found ...
Dimitris02
14votes
2answers
3kviews
How does a modern day satellite fall apart in space?
Inspired by this news item Boeing-made satellite breaks up in space, which in part states: A communications satellite designed and built by embattled aerospace giant Boeing has broken up in orbit. ...
- 13.4k
6votes
1answer
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Round number bias in selecting operating altitude of satellites?
With more and more satellites in orbit and increasing risk of collisions, should satellite owners not select satellite altitudes more diligently or even at "random"? Is there a specific ...
- 409
7votes
2answers
420views
How can I find the satellite I frequently saw 20 years ago?
During my childhood, I frequently observed a satellite passing overhead, and now, 20 years later, I’m hoping to find out which satellite it was. It may no longer exist today, so historical data might ...
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