NAIL: Dr. Stevens, David from Oviedo: When the satellites are no longer operational, will they stay in their orbits indefinitely,
or will they reenter the atmosphere?
STEVENS: That's also a very good question.
The orbital debris requirements that are placed upon our mission require
that the satellites cannot stay in orbit longer than 25 years.
So at the end of our mission, what we do is they command the satellite to activate the thruster and place the satellite in a lower,
the satellite's in a lower orbit.
The drag in the atmosphere as the, as the orbit decays will bring the satellites down in approximately 18 years,
and they'll burn up in the atmosphere. There'll be no debris coming to the ground.