The Initial Stage of “Space Debris” Cloud Formation during Planetary Satellite Breakdown

The process of formation of a particles cloud (space debris) during breakdown of the Earth’s Artificial Satellite (EAS) is considered. A system of equations of motion is derived, and its analytical solution in the linear approximation for circular orbits is presented. The distinction between this solution and an exact numerical solution is indicated. The cases of satellite breakdown at the apogee and perigee on an elliptic orbit are also considered, and some characteristics of these processes are compared.__________Translated from Kosmicheskie Issledovaniya, Vol. 43, No. 4, 2005, pp. 269–273.Original Russian Text Copyright © 2005 by Gorelov, Zarubkin.