when new satellites get launched by private companies, how do they know what height / trajectory to launch them at without having any collisions with existing satellites?
In: Technology
Satellite launches and locations are highly regulated and coordinated. Various agencies around the world organize space and arrange where each satellite is allowed to be, providing appropriate space for it, and safety, and contingency if anything goes wrong
This is actually a major business issue in getting the “best” satellite spot for your satellite as many spaces you might want get filled up.
For example, launching a satellite tv sat in the US, you’d ideally want to be roughly over the middle of the US, so you can beam signal from one satellite to the whole country. But those spaces are pretty full. So you may instead need to launch two satellites. One more west and one mote east to cover the whole country, or some other type of orbit.
There’s no guesswork. This is all very regulated and solved science, long before a launch is ever made. A satellite may also be purpose built for where in space it is going to be, depending on what it’s used for
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