What internal factors often cause on-orbit breakups of spent rocket bodies or older satellites?
Answer
Residual fuel or aging batteries exploding
A significant portion of the cataloged debris population originates not from collisions or deliberate tests, but from inherent instability within the hardware itself after missions conclude. For spent rocket bodies or satellites that have become un-maneuverable, the risk often comes from energetic internal components. Specifically, small amounts of residual propellant left in tanks, or the degradation and eventual failure of aging batteries, can lead to internal explosions years or even decades following the original mission's successful completion. These unplanned breakups contribute substantially to the creation of new, cataloged debris objects.
Related Questions
What size threshold generally defines cataloged and tracked space debris objects?Which specific satellite was destroyed in the significant 2007 Chinese ASAT test?How many trackable pieces of debris resulted from the 2009 crash of Iridium 33 and Cosmos 2251?What theoretical scenario describes cascading collisions leading to an unusable orbital environment?Where is the South Pacific Ocean Uninhabited Area (SPOUA) used for controlled re-entry disposal?What is the estimated total mass of space junk currently orbiting Earth?What internal factors often cause on-orbit breakups of spent rocket bodies or older satellites?How many non-operational satellites does the ESA catalog track specifically?Which methods are conceptualized for the active removal of large, defunct satellites?Which characteristic makes certain components more likely to survive atmospheric re-entry?