Value chain · CLM-0748
In plain terms
The international radio standard says collisions in geostationary orbit happen at around 500 metres per second, far slower than in low orbit, so they are less catastrophic, but it also says a satellite has little chance of surviving any collision.
The claim as recorded
ITU-R Recommendation S.1003-2 states that collisions in geosynchronous orbit will not have the extreme consequences of those in low-Earth orbit, with characteristic impact velocities of the order of 500 m/s, but that such collisions can still result in significant damage to orbiting systems; the same Recommendation records as a founding consideration that satellites have little survivability in case of a collision in orbit and that telecommunications functions would be lost or at least degraded by one.
Scope and limits
"of the order of" is the source's own precision and the figure may not be quoted as 500 m/s exactly or used in any energy calculation without carrying that qualifier. A reading note that must travel with the quotation: the clause "with characteristic impact velocities of the order of 500 m/s" sits next to "low-Earth orbit" and could be misparsed as a LEO figure. It cannot be, since LEO closing velocities are of order 10 km/s, so the GEO reading is the only physically coherent one; but the sentence is quoted whole here so a reader can check the parse rather than take my word for it. The Recommendation was approved in December 2010 and this claim does not establish that 500 m/s is the current best estimate. It gives no impact-energy, penetration or damage threshold for any structure.
What it assumes
No assumptions are recorded against this claim.
Where it comes from
printed p.2, verbatim and complete: "While collisions in the geosynchronous orbit will not have the extreme consequences of those in low-Earth orbit, with characteristic impact velocities of the order of 500 m/s, such collisions can still result in significant damage to orbiting systems." SRC-227 printed p.1, considering b), verbatim in part: satellites have "little survivability in case of a collision in orbit"; considering c), paraphrased except the quoted words: a collision in orbit would leave a satellite's telecommunications functions lost or "at least degraded".
Basis: characteristic impact velocity, m/s, geosynchronous orbit
Related records
- Answers question
- QST-011 not published in this release
Cite this
energyaperture.com/c/clm-0748
CLM-0748, Energy Aperture, as of 2010-12.
Connected records
Other published records linked to this one. A list, not a judgement.
- Also from SRC-227
- CLM-0749A 2010 international radio recommendation said the smallest object that could then be tracked in geostationary orbit was just under a metre...CLM-0750The 2020 edition of the international debris guidelines says a retiring geostationary satellite should climb at least 235 km above its...CLM-0751Working the international disposal formula through by hand shows that for a very large and very light satellite the extra height it must...