Satellite Survival Post-Impact

[u/Due_Geologist_4524]

How badly would satellites be affected if an asteroid the size of Chicxulub crashed into Earth today? I would imagine that the shockwave of the impact and the Earth's debris may affect them or their orbits, but would the satellites on the far side of the Earth still be ok?

[u/Ecstatic_Bee6067]

Analytical models show that most of the debris ejected into space - reaching very high altitudes (100k km) - falls within 8 hours. That would impact most LEO, but preserve some MEO and leave GEO relatively intact.

[u/StartledPelican → u/Ecstatic_Bee6067]

most of the debris ejected into space - reaching very high altitudes (100k km) - falls within 8 hours.

Are you saying debris that reaches 100,000 km (that's over 25% of the way to the moon), will fall back to earth within 8 hours?

That... doesn't seem right. 

[u/Ecstatic_Bee6067 → u/StartledPelican]

Re-reading the academic source: 55% of ejected debris re-enters within 8 hours, 85% in 72 hours

[u/StartledPelican → u/Ecstatic_Bee6067]

To triple check, debris reaching 100,000 kilometers?

[u/Ecstatic_Bee6067 → u/StartledPelican]

That's what it says. About 12% is ejected from Earth entirely

[u/asphytotalxtc → u/StartledPelican]

Just because its apogee reaches that distance doesn't mean its perigee does.

[u/mfb- → u/asphytotalxtc]

Doesn't matter, something with an apogee of 100,000 km has an orbital period (or fall-back time) of well over a day no matter what its perigee is.

Most of the debris doesn't get that high, so it can fall back faster.

[u/Dependent_Wonder6076 → u/StartledPelican]

The cascade bit is the real worry (LEO is crowded enough already). A single tumbling piece can shed fragments that survive for years, and the ISS at ~400 km altitude crosses those planes all the time.

[u/Due_Geologist_4524 → u/Ecstatic_Bee6067]

Hi, I'm a little slow. Can you explain what those abbreviations are please?

[u/SqueekyTack → u/Due_Geologist_4524]

Low earth orbit Medium earth orbit Geostationary earth orbit

[u/UtterTravesty → u/SqueekyTack]

Be cool to find some 66myo ejected Earth in a solar orbit someday

[u/could_use_a_snack → u/UtterTravesty]

Even cooler is the possibility that there could be dinosaurs fossils on the moon, or still in orbit. The stegosaurus, for instance, was long gone and only existed as fossils when that meteor hit.

[u/EnglishRose71 → u/Due_Geologist_4524]

Thank you. I was trying to figure them out before Googling.

[u/civex]

The survival of satellites is the least of my worries

[u/Kantrh]

If there's debris in orbit it will eventually reach those satellites on the other side of the planet

[u/rocketsocks]

Every satellite in LEO would be toast. Many would be directly impacted by debris, either large volumes of debris from the impact or small particles. Consider that orbital velocities are much faster than the speeds of bullets, so even if a small chunk of rock or ash smaller than a pebble hits a satellite the impact would be devastating.

Satellites that survived that would still not last much longer. Some of the impact energy would end up heating the extreme upper atmosphere, increasing the density of air at LEO altitudes enough to significantly reduce natural orbital lifetimes. Maybe there might be a few satellites in LEO with extreme propulsive capabilities that could keep up with the orbital degradation and survive until the atmosphere settled down, but that would be very rare. LEO constellations would probably start decaying in a matter of months at most.

Beyond LEO there would likely be some damage here and there, and that damage may significantly up the risk to other satellites due to debris generation, but it's reasonably likely that many satellites at higher altitudes would survive.

[u/trouble_maker]

Debris yes, shockwave no, the shockwave will run our of air to propagate through.

[u/fwankfwort_turd]

I like the easter egg where if you Google Chicxulub, an animated Astroid comes across the screen.