Orbital station-keeping

So imagine you are on a playground swing. You can swing back and forth without any problems, right? But let's pretend your swing is in space, and there's not much gravity to help you. You might have trouble staying in one spot because there's no force keeping you from drifting away.

That's kind of what it's like for a satellite or a spacecraft floating around in space. They need to constantly readjust their position, or "orbit," so they don't float away or crash into something else. This process is called "orbital station-keeping."

Imagine it like having an invisible leash attached to your swing that only lets you move in a certain area. Instead of a leash, satellites use things called "thrusters" to keep them in a specific orbit. These thrusters are like tiny rocket engines that can push the satellite in different directions to keep it in the right spot.

Satellites use sensors to detect when they're drifting away from their orbit, and then they use the thrusters to push themselves back into place. This happens all the time, because even tiny changes in the satellite's height or speed can cause it to drift out of position.

So basically, orbital station-keeping is like a game of "stay in your lane" for satellites. They have to constantly make small adjustments to their orbit to make sure they don't float away or crash into something else in space!