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      FCC to fight space debris by requiring satellite disposal in 5 years or less

      news.movim.eu / ArsTechnica · Friday, 9 September, 2022 - 17:47

    Illustration of many satellites orbiting the Earth.

    Enlarge / Artist's impression of low Earth-orbit satellites like those launched by SpaceX and OneWeb. (credit: NOIRLab / NSF / AURA / P. Marenfeld )

    The Federal Communications Commission has a plan to minimize space junk by requiring low Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to be disposed no more than five years after being taken out of service.

    A proposal released yesterday by FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel would adopt "a first-ever rule requiring non-geostationary satellite operators to deorbit their satellites after the end of their operations to minimize the risk of collisions that would create debris." It's scheduled for an FCC vote on September 29.

    The five-year rule would be legally binding, unlike the current 25-year standard that's based on a NASA recommendation proposed in the 1990s.

    Read 11 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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      La météo solaire fait tomber les satellites de leurs orbites, et ça va empirer

      news.movim.eu / JournalDuGeek · Tuesday, 5 July, 2022 - 16:00

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    Les caprices du Soleil, dont l'activité va continuer d'augmenter jusqu'en 2025, représentent une vraie menace pour certains satellites.

    La météo solaire fait tomber les satellites de leurs orbites, et ça va empirer

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      Spinlaunch Throws A Camera Toward Space With Electric Power - Good For Launching Small Satellites

      GadgeteerZA · news.movim.eu / gadgeteerza-tech-blog · Sunday, 22 May, 2022 - 11:29

    The company’s first suborbital system is designed to test the technology, but Spinlaunch does plan on doing a larger orbital launcher in the future. Neither system can put loads into space on its own, but by propelling the rocket to over 6 times the speed of sound at launch, the need for a big rocket that burns vast quantities of fuel is eliminated. Instead, a Spinlaunch rocket can be quite small and still take its payload to space. This will lower both the monetary cost and the environmental costs of launching small spacecraft (like satellites) into space.

    Yes, normal rocket launching can be pretty bad for the environment, and expensive, so this may fill an important niche going forward.

    See https://cleantechnica.com/2022/05/20/spinlaunch-throws-a-camera-toward-space-with-electric-power/

    #technology #environment #spinlaunch #satellites