ELi5: How exactly does the ISS avoid some 2,800 satellites while orbiting Earth?
In: Engineering
2,800 may sound like a large number, but it’s not when compared to the size of the Earth and the space above it. Think of how many planes there are each day flying through the sky, none of them hitting each other. [Not literally all, there are accidents with the majority human error]
In the context of space, the satellite does not take up a lot of room. Additionally, you have to consider they are not all on the same plane. [You can think of plane as how many miles they are from the Earth, along with the path of their orbit]
The ISS has a static, and well known, orbit. When satellites are launched they are released in such a way that their orbit does not collide with the ISS orbit, similar to a plane setting a course so that it does not collide with another plane.
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