> If there is no collision, yes you're right, but if there is one.... Stuff gets thrown into various orbits. Most of the debris will deorbit quickly, but a small percentage can get a substantial kick and go higher.
That's a misleading description.
While a collision may increase an object's apogee, it will be in an elliptical orbit: it will always intersect the orbit where the collision happened.
This isn't just a collision thing either: all spacecraft do this[1] as a first step (move to an elliptical orbit), and then typically relight their engines at the apogee in order to circularize their orbit.
That's a misleading description.
While a collision may increase an object's apogee, it will be in an elliptical orbit: it will always intersect the orbit where the collision happened.
This isn't just a collision thing either: all spacecraft do this[1] as a first step (move to an elliptical orbit), and then typically relight their engines at the apogee in order to circularize their orbit.
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1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohmann_transfer_orbit