re: #56 Dopamine Fish

That’s not strictly true. They would still have to have enough delta-v to re-enter the atmosphere, but just like with a spacecraft, a properly shaped re-entry system could use atmospheric drag to reduce its orbital velocity enough to bring it down on a target. It would not be like in the movies, where it literally drops straight down on the target, but more like a guided cruise missile that comes from above instead of below.

When leaving the satellite it would either require a rocket, or to be fired out of cannon. It has to be decelerated or rather accelerated in the opposite direction of the orbit. Just letting go without anything to “push” it, it will float along with the satellite. If there’s enough atmospheric drag to bring the rod down at that point, the satellite would go with it too.