Deep Field

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Deep Field
29 September 2026 2518 stories tracked

Glossary · Satellites & Orbit

Deorbit burn

The engine firing that lowers an orbit into the atmosphere on purpose.

Slowing down by a few hundred metres per second is enough to drop the low point of an orbit into thick air, after which the atmosphere does the rest. For a crewed capsule it is the most consequential burn of the mission — too shallow and it skips, too steep and the deceleration is dangerous. For a dead satellite it is a responsibility: current guidelines require disposal within five years, and the large stations are brought down deliberately into the empty South Pacific.

Related terms

Sun-synchronous orbit A near-polar orbit that crosses the equator at the same local time every day. Geostationary orbit The one orbit where a satellite appears to hang motionless over a fixed point. Kessler syndrome The runaway scenario where collisions in orbit generate debris that causes more collisions. Low Earth orbit Everything from about 160 to 2,000 km up, where almost all spacecraft and all people are.

Questions

What is Deorbit burn?

The engine firing that lowers an orbit into the atmosphere on purpose.

Why does it matter?

For a crewed capsule it is the most consequential burn of the mission — too shallow and it skips, too steep and the deceleration is dangerous. For a dead satellite it is a responsibility: current guidelines require disposal within five years, and the large stations are brought down deliberately into the empty South Pacific.

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