Orbital decay

Collisions of stellar-mass objects are usually accompanied by effects such as gamma-ray bursts and detectable gravitational waves.Due to atmospheric drag, the lowest altitude above the Earth at which an object in a circular orbit can complete at least one full revolution without propulsion is approximately 150 km (93 mi) while the lowest perigee of an elliptical revolution is approximately 90 km (56 mi).The total decelerating force, which is usually atmospheric drag for low Earth orbits, exerted on a satellite of constant mass m is given by some force F. The rate of loss of orbital energy is simply the rate at the external force does negative work on the satellite as the satellite traverses an infinitesimal circular arc-length ds, spanned by some infinitesimal angle dθ and angular rate ω.Atmospheric drag at orbital altitude is caused by frequent collisions of gas molecules with the satellite.However, orbital decay is also a limiting factor to the length of time the Hubble can go without a maintenance rendezvous, the most recent having been performed successfully by STS-125, with Space Shuttle Atlantis in 2009.Small objects in the Solar System also experience an orbital decay due to the forces applied by asymmetric radiation pressure.Several things can cause the loss of energy including tidal forces, mass transfer, and gravitational radiation.
Altitude of Tiangong-1 during its final year of uncontrolled reentry. [ 1 ]
Decaying Orbit (film)Inspiral (horse)Tiangong-1Orbital mechanicsOrbital elementsArgument of periapsisEccentricityInclinationMean anomalyOrbital nodesSemi-major axisTrue anomalytwo-body orbitsCircular orbitElliptic orbitTransfer orbitHohmann transfer orbitBi-elliptic transfer orbitParabolic orbitHyperbolic orbitRadial orbitDynamical frictionEscape velocityKepler's equationKepler's laws of planetary motionOrbital periodOrbital velocitySurface gravitySpecific orbital energyVis-viva equationCelestial mechanicsBarycenterHill spherePerturbationsSphere of influenceN-body orbitsLagrangian pointsHalo orbitsLissajous orbitsLyapunov orbitsEngineering and efficiencyMass ratioPayload fractionPropellant mass fractionTsiolkovsky rocket equationGravity assistOberth effectOrbital maneuverOrbit insertiondistanceorbitingperiapsisplanetsatellitebinary systemstrikesburns, explodes, or otherwise breaks upatmospherecometsCollisions of stellar-mass objectsgamma-ray burstsgravitational wavesfluid frictiongravitational anomalieselectromagneticlow Earth orbitatmospheric dragperigeedrag equationmass densitydimensionlessdrag coefficientskin frictionform dragPythonconservation of mechanical energytwo-body orbitMean motionapoapsismoleculesaltitudepositive feedbacksolar maximasolar minimaspace stationsSpace ShuttlesHubble Space Telescopeorbital station-keepingSkylabReboostsSTS-125space telescopesTidal accelerationtidal bulgeretrograde orbitsynchronous orbitPhobosTritonTrES-3bPoynting–Robertson effectYarkovsky effectSolar Systemblackbodyaberration of lightTwo-body problem in general relativityGravitational radiationcompact objectselectrodynamic tetherStellar collisionbinary starstidal forcesmass transferspiralblack holeMass concentration (astronomy)