But as on-orbit manufacturing and refueling become real, the ingot’s days are numbered. Future rockets will likely use or active mass shifters to balance the stack, turning the ballast into usable fuel.
Enter the ballast mass.
A single Falcon 9 rideshare mission might drop 10 to 15 launch ingots into Low Earth Orbit (LEO). While they are tracked by the 18th Space Defense Squadron, they are considered “passive disposable objects.” launch ingot
Environmentalists are beginning to push back. “Each ingot has the kinetic energy of a freight train at orbital velocity,” says Dr. Liam O’Rourke, an orbital debris researcher at MIT. “We are intentionally placing dense, un-trackable bricks in high-traffic lanes. One collision with a Starlink satellite and the shrapnel cloud takes out a hundred more.” But as on-orbit manufacturing and refueling become real,