why don't space satellites collide?

Answer 1

when we send them up we deliberately put them in an orbit that keeps them from colliding with each other. space above our planet is really large so we have a lot of room to work with. plus when a satellite loses its usefulness we cause it descend into the atmosphere burning up before it safely splashes down in the ocean.

Answer 2

Space is so big, it is extremely unlikely that two large satellites would collide, and furthermore their orbits are controlled so that they don't collide.

However, the orbital space above the earth is filled with a lot of "space junk", and this is a real problem. "Space junk" is little bits of old space equipment---flecks of paint, gloves dropped by the astronauts, broken bits of metal. At the very high relative speeds found in orbit, hitting one of these things makes a big crash, and produces even more space junk. Space junk is tracked by radar in order to avoid putting satellites in colliding orbits. It is an increasing problem, and ideas have been put forward for special satellites that would sweep up the junk rather than create more.

Answer 3

Space is big. There is a lot of room.

When new satellites are launched, they are placed on trajectories that do not intersect the orbits of other known satellites. That does not guarantee a collision will not occur with an uncharted satellite of space debris, but the odds of such are acceptably small.

Answer 4

How often to airplanes collide? Not often. And there are hundreds more planes than satellites.

One also has to take into account that satellites have much more room -- a much higher altitude means a much larger sphere and therefore more room -- and most are stationary.

Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of tiny sentinels silently holding their posts.

Answer 5

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