Ablation cascade is a term used for a possible catastrophic orbital event. The event could be triggered by the explosive destruction of a satellite. The resulting debris with its wide variety of velocities would impact other satellites. If enough of these exploded, this would result in an exponential increase in the amount of debris, until no satellites were left.

Hypothetical occurrence

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Let's say, for example, that a micrometeorite punctured a satellite in such a way the manuevering fuel and oxidizer were allowed to come into contact with each other. While the resulting explosion might not destroy the satellite, it would create metal shards that could (and in our hypothetical scenario, would) puncture other orbiting bodies, possible causing them to explode in a rapid sequence that will end only when all orbiting bodies are pounded into pieces too small to collide.

The resulting high energy debris field could render access to space impossible. As the number of satellites and amount of debris in orbit continues to rise, the probability of such an event increases.

Cleanup

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Cleaning up such a situation would be difficult, if even possible. One possibility would be to deliver an explosive warhead in order to force as much debris as possible out of the way. This would most likely be immediately followed by a launch of a payload. One payload could be a reinforced electromagnet designed to capture some of the orbital debris and then bring it back to Earth in a steep reentry, causing much of the material to burnup before hitting the ground.

Orbital cleanup maybe needed in the future regardless of whether an ablation cascade has occurred because of the increasing amount of dead satellites and abandoned parts of rockets, such as parts of multi-stage rockets like the Saturn V.

See also

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• Ken MacLeod

Space exploration