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Summary

Description
English: An axonometric view displays various Earth orbits, illustrating space debris and active satellites. The diagram includes a separate sheet for each orbit type, detailing the height, typical speed of objects, the number of active satellites, and essential sustainable practices for damage prevention and mitigation.

Geostationary Orbit (GEO): . 35,786km 11,050km/h - 600sats +15/year . fairly regulated and organized . 0-2.5 km/s collision speeds . service for extending life is needed

GEO Graveyard Orbit: . 36,100km 11,000km/h . far future problem

Geosynchronous Orbit (GSO): . 35,000-36,000km - 800sats +20/year . mostly big trackable inactive sats . will stay in orbit indefinitely . one 50 m close approach per year . should be moved to “graveyard” orbit . not an urgent priority

Superspreader Debris Ring: . large rocket body

Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO): . 2,000-40,000km - 60 sats +2/year . very few satellites and debris . almost null risk of collision

GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo: . 19,000-23,000km - 110sats . very few satellites and debris

Medium Earth Orbit (MEO): . 2,000-32,000km - 160sats +12/year . sats should be de-orbited as would naturally decay in +1000 years . not an urgent priority since there is still no congestion . speeds range from 5-7 km/s . multi-orbit constellations will start using it with no regulation

Inner Van Allen Radiation Belt: . 1,500-10,000km . few active satellites here due to charged particles risk

Sun-Synchronous Orbit (SSO): . 600-1000km - 800 sats +150/year . mostly Earth observation sats . danger crossing zones near the poles . conjunctions are steadily increasing . also used as a graveyard orbit

Low Earth Orbit (LEO): . 200-2,000km - 10,000 sats +2400/year . rapidly getting crowded . 9-14 km/s collision speeds

. needs urgent protection
Date
Source Own work
Author Pablo Carlos Budassi
Other versions

Image created by Pablo Carlos Budassi for Wikimedia Commons. Please mention the original author's name on each image copy you use.

Space debris orbits scheme data: Moriba Jah, AstriaGraph.

This image is part of a complete infographic of the key space sustainability issues for the 2020's decade: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Space_sustainability_overview_black.png

More info at the artist's website: https://www.pablocarlosbudassi.com/2021/02/space-sustainability.html

Suggestions for making this scheme more accurate and descriptions in other languages are welcome. Please get in touch for any comments or suggestions to improve the accuracy of the diagram: pablocarlosbudassi@gmail.com

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I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby publish it under the following license:
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An axonometric view displays various Earth orbits, illustrating space debris and active satellites.

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9 August 2023

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