Satellites stay up in space for multiple years serving whatever purpose they each have been given by their owners. However, like many things, satellites have a definite lifespan and the point comes where they are too old and can no longer be used.
What happens then to old satellites that have been decommissioned by the people who launched them to space to begin with? Are they left floating in space or are they destroyed somehow?
There are actually a few ways that old satellites can be dealt with once their lifespans end. Here are some examples:
Death by Cremation
One of the ways that satellites "die" is by cremation. However, by cremation, we mean they are intentionally made to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), this method only applies to small satellites that have low orbits. "The heat from the friction of the air burns up the satellite as it falls toward Earth at thousands of miles per hour," NASA explains.
It should be noted that this method is not ideal for bigger satellites because they may not completely burn up in the atmosphere, which will cause a lot of problems should it ever hit the planet's surface.
Graveyard Orbits
If a satellite cannot be sent to a fiery death, its owners can opt to send it to what is referred to as graveyard orbits.
According to an article by Space, an old satellite that still has fuel left can be made to use it to fire its engine so it can head to a graveyard orbit. NASA describes a graveyard orbit as "an orbit almost 200 miles farther away from Earth than the farthest active satellites."
The space agency also says that it is located around 22,400 miles away from our planet. Graveyard orbits are located far away so that the satellites in them can avoid colliding with fellow satellites and other spacecraft.
An example of a satellite that has been sent to a graveyard orbit is Russia's Express-AM11 communications satellite. Per Space, the satellite was hit by space debris, causing Russia to decide to send it to its graveyard orbit in 2006.
Shooting Satellites Down with Missiles
Owners can also opt to just shoot down an old satellite so that it bursts up in space.
The article by Space provides examples of instance where this took place. One of which is a spy satellite owned by the United States known as USA 193. The US military opted to use a missile to shoot it down as the satellite "was plunging to Earth with a full tank of toxic hydrazine fuel, on Feb. 20, 2008," according to Space.
However, this method of discarding old satellites can cause problems in the form of space junk. Space junk still floating in space my cause damage to other satellites and spacecraft.
