3D Space Debris Cascade | mysimulator.uk

Orbital Shell — 3D

Launch rate 1.0 /s

Fragmentation 6×

Inclination spread 40°

Objects

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Collisions

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Cascade risk

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Time elapsed

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How it works

Each object here follows a true inclined circular orbit — its own orbital plane tilted by an inclination angle and rotated by an ascending-node angle around Earth — rather than one flat ring. Two orbital planes only cross along a single line through Earth's center, so collisions cluster at those crossing nodes instead of being spread evenly, which is exactly why real orbital shells develop hot zones of debris density at specific altitudes and geometries.

position(θ,i,Ω,r) = R_z(Ω) · R_x(i) · [r·cosθ, r·sinθ, 0]
ω(r) = √(μ / r³)
two planes intersect along one line → collisions cluster at crossing nodes

Launch rate — new objects seeded onto random inclined orbits per second.
Fragmentation — how many fragments a 3D collision scatters, each launched onto a nearby plane with its own small inclination offset.
Inclination spread — how wide a range of orbital-plane tilts is populated; a narrow spread packs everything into similar planes (more crossings, more collisions), a wide spread spreads objects across many planes (fewer crossings).
ADR — toggles active debris removal, which deorbits the oldest large objects to hold back the cascade.

Real-world relevance: real satellite constellations are placed at specific inclinations partly to control how often their orbital planes cross those of other traffic and debris.

Earth Active object Collision Fragment

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