Source
r/NoStupidQuestions•
trnzone

How long would it take any country to recognize a new satellite in orbit?

Let’s say I wanted to launch an unauthorized (with any nation) satellite into space as a private citizen and did not have any barriers (money, technology) to doing so. I would also pick as remote part of the world from which to launch it as possible.

Could I even launch it in the first place or would some country know and shut it down based on the types of things that were being bought and created?

If it did launch, How long would it take for the launch to be recognized as actively happening by any country (U.S., China, wherever)?

If the satellite somehow made it into orbit, how quickly would it be found? How would it presumably be destroyed if they could not control its navigation?

Hey, it says no stupid questions.

Posted Feb 13, 2022, 2:48 AM UTC

12
Yer_Dunn•

It's a good question. Generally you need permission from the flight administration of whatever country you are launching from to be sure you're not going to hit anything with your rocket. You could probably be arrested for endangering lives if you got caught. Then again, that's IF you get caught. Problem is, there are already too many, and we are on the cusp of a devastating debris field incident. To the point where in the near future we could lose all satellites and the ability to enter space. So launching a satellite without proper calculation and precaution will probably lead to a collision.

These links might interest you.

https://www.faa.gov/space/additional_information/faq/

https://youtu.be/yS1ibDImAYU

1
BullMoose1904•

Big countries (US, Russia, China) would know within a couple of minutes after you launched it if not beforehand. A space rocket and a nuclear missile are close enough to the same thing that your launch would certainly set off early warning systems. As for what would happen after, it depends. China has demonstrated the ability to use a satellite to grab ahold of another one and bring it down without blowing it up. The US hasn't officially done the same (publicly), but it's not super likely that they would tell people if they could do that, and they do have satellites that can do it when the other satellite is cooperative. But it kinda depends whether your satellite was going to hit something important. If not, everyone might just leave it alone.

1