Re: Value of a tower into space?

Wasn't it Wildepad who wrote:
>On Fri, 11 Nov 2005 10:39:20 +0000, Mike Williams
><nospam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>>
>>At 120 miles high, the orbit speed required is about 17000mph.
>
>But you wouldn't put it into a 120 mile orbit, unless it was something
>that you wanted whizzing past your head again and again.

120 miles is just below what's normally considered the bottom of Low
Earth Orbit. I guess that's why Wildepad chose that height. You'd want
to boost your satellite up to a slightly higher orbit. The boosters used
for this wouldn't be much more than those required to periodically
adjust the orbit.

For example, the ISS orbits at a height of about 220 miles. Its orbit
decays at a rate of about 2 miles a month and needs to be re-boosted
every so often. See the graph at

http://www.heavens-above.com/issheight.asp

You'd also want a backup plan to cope with satellites whose boosters
that failed to fire. You wouldn't want them to smack into the launch
complex at 17000mph on the next orbit.

--
Mike Williams
Gentleman of Leisure
.

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