Author Topic: breakup of Orbcomm FM 36 (#25984, 1999-065E)  (Read 2424 times)

Offline Targeteer

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breakup of Orbcomm FM 36 (#25984, 1999-065E)
« on: 03/20/2023 04:47 am »
Is the small number of objects, so far, more indicative of a collision than a catastrophic on board failure?

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Offline kevin-rf

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Re: breakup of Orbcomm FM 36 (#25984, 1999-065E)
« Reply #1 on: 03/20/2023 05:21 pm »
Previous collisions have led to 1000's of trackable pieces in orbit, See Iridium 33. But, then some breakups have also led to a large number of pieces, see DSMP 13...

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Offline Comga

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Re: breakup of Orbcomm FM 36 (#25984, 1999-065E)
« Reply #2 on: 03/20/2023 05:49 pm »
Gunther’s lists Orbcomms 29 through 36 as 45 kg. 
At almost 800 km altitude it couldn’t break up into all that many trackable debris, particularly as hardware doesn’t break up evenly.
Plus it could have collided with a small object or been hit on an extension like a solar panel and not been totally demolished.

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What kind of wastrels would dump a perfectly good booster in the ocean after just one use?

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