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by craftyguy 3002 days ago
All satellites will eventually be non-operational, so the question is: do they have a plan for picking up these 4500 pieces of future space junk once they are no longer in use?
2 comments

Low orbit junk quickly falls back onto earth if not supported by engines.
"quickly" can still be several years, or more.
The industry standard is deorbit within 25 years after end of mission. The SpaceX proposal (1) plans for deorbiting of every satellite within one year after the end of their mission.

(1) http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/report...

They're in LOE, so they just go into atmosphere and burn.