What happens to satellites that are turned off? Here is NASA’s response

There are currently approximately 11,000 satellites orbiting Earth, according to the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), and here’s what happens to the ones that are taken out of service

When satellites run out of fuel or something happens that causes them to stop working, what happens is that they continue for a while to orbit in their usual orbit until gravity pulls them further and further towards Earth. At some point, it will begin to pass through the upper layers of our atmosphere, burn up and thus disintegrate. But what if this satellite doesn’t burn up upon its return?Well… parts, larger or smaller, of this structure can arrive It collides with one of our continents or ocean. But no one wants this to happen, which is why they are working on a solution.

OSAM-1 mission

Until now, if a satellite stopped working or ran out of fuel, there were two hypotheses for what would happen: either the satellite would remain operational The so-called “dead” orbit. Or go to Disintegrate (Hope) in the air. The smartest and most useful thing would be to be able to repair or refuel these space objects, which is why NASA is working on maintenance, assembly, and manufacturing capabilities in space. Awsam-1 or On-orbit service, assembly and manufacturing mission 1 – It will arrive very soon. In fact, we’re working on technologies that allow us to shore up some of our key resources, so that if a tool is faulty or needs to be updated, We will be able to do it in the space itself. This will help NASA explore and Create missions Which will improve our ability to reach the Moon, Mars, and who knows…farther!

source