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What happens to the old satellites and other debris that is left in space? Why is it even acceptable to leave our trash / garbage out there?

user
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Corrina Harris
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    Related question: http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4859/what-is-being-done-to-cleanup-space-of-junk-particulary-laws-and-litigation – Hobbes Oct 28 '15 at 18:59
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    What exactly do you mean by "acceptable"? Acceptable to whom? When? – Nathan Tuggy Oct 28 '15 at 19:03
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    Potential duplicate of http://space.stackexchange.com/questions/4948/why-dont-space-debris-fall-on-earth-or-roam-in-universe – called2voyage Oct 28 '15 at 19:17
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    How about just typing your question into Google? It's not that you cannot ask that here (although these kinds of wide open questions risk getting 'too broad' close votes), but Googling What happens to the old satellites and other debris that is left in space gives nearly 6 million hits and you have your answer immediately. –  Oct 29 '15 at 13:40
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    Possible duplicate of Space debris half life – kim holder Oct 30 '15 at 18:37
  • I like the answer to the question given by @PearsonArtPhoto. If this question is closed is that answer then lost? Could all three related/duplicate questions be combined into one as a community wiki? – Fred Oct 31 '15 at 01:07
  • It is said if enough satellites collide it will cascade destroying all the satellites also creating an impenetrable cloud of fast moving debris that will entrap mankind from traveling into space.: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome. – Muze Apr 20 '18 at 05:51

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Once something is in space, there's only a few ways it'll ever come back down.

  1. It rockets down to re-enter Earth
  2. It is in the upper part of the atmosphere, which slowly will bring it down.
  3. Sunlight pushes it into an orbit where it intersects the atmosphere, or even leaves Earth orbit.
  4. It hits another object, changing it's velocity.

Once debris is up there, it's hard to get down. Spacecraft are required to put themselves into either a graveyard orbit, or an orbit where the spacecraft will naturally return to Earth shortly thereafter. However, some spacecraft fail, others were built before this was a known problem, and overall, it's expensive to ensure that it happens.

PearsonArtPhoto
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  • If I get it correctly, boulders on the Moon are pulverised by (micro)meteoroids over time and are thus only present where they formed near young craters. Shouldn't spacecrafts in cis-lunar space be similarly pulverized over time? – LocalFluff Oct 30 '15 at 11:12
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    It happens anywhere in the Solar System actually. That basically falls under the "It hits another object" category. – PearsonArtPhoto Oct 30 '15 at 12:00
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Currently there are thousands to millions of objects orbiting around earth's surface. These items are just as "acceptable" as Saturn's rings. Whether everything will stay there or come down to earth depends on the object.

user12153
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    It's not exactly true that the debris in (mostly) LEO is just as acceptable as Saturn's rings; the rings are a navigational obstacle to only a very few purpose-built probes, while the debris is a potentially rather serious threat to pretty much any continued use of space. – Nathan Tuggy Oct 30 '15 at 06:45