Some satellites are designed for a lifespan of ten years, others for a few months. Many of the early communications satellites were retired because new technology made them obslete so replacement ‘birds’ were launched.
Along the same lines, Brian Roberts, robotic technologist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center, suggested ten years was the optimum lifespan for a satellite. Once the vehicle enters service, it is expected to bring at least 10 years of extra operational time to multiple satellites, the academy said. The satellite takes images of the Earth below and streams it down to the station in real-time. The satellite’s operator could also decide that it would be more energy efficient to push it up to a disposal orbit above 2,000 km. Like every other machine, satellites do not last forever. Two things can happen to old satellites: For the closer satellites, engineers will use its last bit of fuel to slow it down so it will fall out of orbit and burn up in the atmosphere.
There are a few things that affect how long your satellite dish will last.
13 The average life span of a LEO satellite is approximately 5 years, but the average life span for a GEO satellite is approximately 8 years. The station's antenna points toward the satellite and tracks it for as long as it can until it moves out of range.
Each station therefore receives the images of the areas around it.
In the following I will do my best to describe how long a satellite … Further satellites are instead sent even farther away from Earth. Those with solar panels can supply electrical power from the sun, others depend on batteries or even quasi nuclear reactors.
It’s fair to say that you should get around average 10 years life out of a satellite dish, but there are reasons why this could be more or less.