Satellites need small amounts of fuel to align and maintain their position. When the fuel runs out, they are decommissioned. Artificial satellites orbit the Earth at different altitudes, depending on their role, reports NOVA.
Environmental satellites, for example, orbit a few hundred kilometers above Earth in low Earth orbit. Navigational satellites are much further away. They are at an altitude of 20 to 24 thousand kilometers in an average Earth orbit. Telecommunications, broadcasting and weather satellites are the furthest from Earth in geostationary orbit. They are located above the equator and are always focused on only one part of the Earth.
After a satellite reaches graveyard orbit, the control center must empty its tanks and drain its batteries to prevent an uncontrolled explosion of fuel, for example. Satellites are in geostationary orbit and are brought down in a controlled manner and ejected into the Earth's atmosphere.
The rising heat from the friction causes them to largely burn up, and the remaining debris falls into the sea. Satellites can be damaged by meteorites or space debris and their lives can be shortened. They can no longer be controlled. Now researchers hope to find them using geostationary orbit.
Satellites are in geostationary orbit. They either hook up an inoperable spacecraft or trap it in a net. The goal is to take them down in a controlled manner. The European Space Agency is preparing for its first disposal mission, called Clear Space 1.