question: How do we get satellites down from orbit to replace/fix them?
comment: Simple answer: we don't. Any deorbit of a satellite is destructive; they lack the ability to successfully return to Earth. NASA launched [five servicing missions]( URL_0 ) to repair the Hubble Space Telescope while it in orbit. Other than that, there's currently no way to recover a satellite in orbit.
passages: Section::::Satellites.:Inactive or repurposed.
  
  Several GOES satellites are still in orbit but are either inactive or have been re-purposed.
   By comparison, the DARPA Project Phoenix program has an even more complex mission concept: "cooperatively harvest and re-use valuable components from satellites in orbit that have been retired. DARPA envisions a servicing spacecraft that could remove a solar array, antenna, or other component from a defunct satellite and transport it to another satellite, either a newly constructed spacecraft or one in need or repairs. 'Phoenix is truly all about going up to retired, non-cooperative, non-controlled satellites that have been left for dead in the geosynchronous graveyard orbit, essentially, and see if we can resurrect capability out of those satellites or those satellite components.'"
   BULLET::::- List of satellites in geosynchronous orbit
  
  Section::::External links.
  
  BULLET::::- Boeing Satellite Development Center
  
  BULLET::::- Complete list of past satellites and space probes from Boeing Satellite Systems
  
  BULLET::::- Complete list of current navigation and communications satellites projects at Boeing Satellite Systems
  
  BULLET::::- Complete list of satellites built on the 376, 601, and 702 platforms (almost every BSS satellite is an adaptation of one of these three designs)
   When satellites reach the end of their mission (this normally occurs within 3 or 4 years after launch), satellite operators have the option of de-orbiting the satellite, leaving the satellite in its current orbit or moving the satellite to a graveyard orbit. Historically, due to budgetary constraints at the beginning of satellite missions, satellites were rarely designed to be de-orbited. One example of this practice is the satellite Vanguard 1. Launched in 1958, Vanguard 1, the 4th artificial satellite put in Geocentric orbit, was still in orbit , as well as the upper stage of its launch rocket.
   In September, 2012, the DLR Space Administration announced a funded development project to build a two-vehicle set of spacecraft to demonstrate several technologies necessary for on-orbit satellite servicing, including spacecraft refuelling, to enable satellite mission extension and also controlled disposal of a . The project is entitled "DEOS" (German orbital servicing mission), and consists of "two satellites, a 'client' and a 'servicer'. The client acts as the satellite requiring maintenance or disposal. The servicer carries out the necessary work on the client." The two spacecraft will be launched together into low-Earth orbit of . , the mission "will be ready for launch in 2018." EADS Astrium Friedrichshafen is the prime contractor for the definition phase of the DEOS project, with a contract value of approximately €13 million.
   Section::::Dealing with debris.:External removal.:Remotely controlled vehicles.
  
  A well-studied solution uses a remotely controlled vehicle to rendezvous with, capture and return debris to a central station.
   BULLET::::- Supersynchronous orbit: a disposal / storage orbit above GSO/GEO. Satellites drift in a westerly direction.
  
  BULLET::::- Subsynchronous orbit: a drift orbit close to but below GSO/GEO. Used for satellites undergoing station changes in an eastern direction.
  
  BULLET::::- Graveyard orbit: a supersynchronous orbit where spacecraft are intentionally placed at the ends of their operational lives.
  
  Section::::Other synchronous orbits.
   For satellites in geostationary orbit and geosynchronous orbits, the graveyard orbit is a few hundred kilometers above the operational orbit. The transfer to a graveyard orbit above geostationary orbit requires the same amount of fuel as a satellite needs for about three months of stationkeeping. It also requires a reliable attitude control during the transfer maneuver. While most satellite operators try to perform such a maneuver at the end of their satellites' operational lives, through 2005 only about one-third succeeded. However, as of 2011, most recently decommissioned geosynchronous spacecraft were said to have been moved to a graveyard orbit.
   Meteosat
  
  The Meteosat series of satellites are geostationary meteorological satellites operated by EUMETSAT under the Meteosat Transition Programme (MTP) and the Meteosat Second Generation (MSG) program.
  
  The MTP program was established to ensure the operational continuity between the end of the successful Meteosat Operational Programme in 1995 and Meteosat Second Generation (MSG), which came into operation at the start of 2004 using improved satellites. The MSG program will provide service until the MTG (Meteosat Third Generation) program takes over.
  
  Section::::First generation.
   Section::::Civil.:NASA.
  
  As part of planning the Orion programme for the journey beyond low Earth orbit to destinations such as Mars, NASA needed to demolish the existing concrete silos (built to assemble the Space Shuttle booster rockets) at their Michoud Assembly Facility. This was necessary in order to replace the silos with larger Space Launch System (SLS) core stage assembly towers. The task of removing the existing concrete silos was estimated to take three months. Bluegrass was called in to regain schedule for the overall project, eventually completing the demolition of cells B and C in a month.
  
  Section::::Offshore.
   An alternative that has been proposed for years is to introduce the capability to retrieve derelict objects for near-space clean up and then either deorbit the satellite or do some sort of in-space recycling of the satellite materials. Several technical approaches have been proposed, but there has been no legal framework to date that has required satellite operators to clean up the negative externality of their derelict satellites. New approaches offer the technical prospect of markedly reducing the cost of object capture and deorbit with the implementation of a one-up/one-down launch license regime to Earth orbits that would require satellite operators to remove one spacecraft for each one deployed.
   One such system is Space Infrastructure Servicing, a commercially developed refueling depot and service spacecraft for communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit originally scheduled for a 2015 launch. The SIS would be able to "push dead satellites into graveyard orbits." The Advanced Common Evolved Stage family of upper stages is being designed with a high leftover-propellant margin (for derelict capture and de-orbit) and in-space refueling capability for the high delta-v required to de-orbit heavy objects from geosynchronous orbit. A tug-like satellite to drag debris to a safe altitude for it to burn up in the atmosphere has been researched. When debris is identified the satellite creates a difference in potential between the debris and itself, then using its thrusters to move itself and the debris to a safer orbit.
   BULLET::::- Vega (jointly with European Space Agency)
  
  Section::::Japan.
  
  BULLET::::- Lambda - Retired
  
  BULLET::::- L-4S
  
  BULLET::::- Mu - Retired
  
  BULLET::::- M-V
  
  BULLET::::- N - Retired
  
  BULLET::::- N-I
  
  BULLET::::- N-II
  
  BULLET::::- H-I - Retired
  
  BULLET::::- H-II
  
  BULLET::::- H-II - Retired
  
  BULLET::::- H-IIA
  
  BULLET::::- H-IIB
  
  BULLET::::- H3 - under development
  
  BULLET::::- J-I - Retired
  
  BULLET::::- GX - Cancelled
  
  BULLET::::- Epsilon
  
  BULLET::::- SS-520 - Active (as suborbital launch system at least. No further orbital mission planned as of February 2018.)
  
  Section::::New Zealand.
  
  BULLET::::- Electron (Rocket Lab,developed in New Zealand and the United States)– operational
  
  Section::::North Korea.
  
  BULLET::::- Paektusan-1 - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Unha-2 - "Retired"
   Graveyard orbit
  
  A graveyard orbit, also called a junk orbit or disposal orbit, is an orbit that lies away from common operational orbits. One significant graveyard orbit is a supersynchronous orbit well above geosynchronous orbit. Satellites are typically moved into such orbits at the end of their operational life to reduce the probability of colliding with operational spacecraft and generating space debris.
  
  Section::::Overview.
   On 7 January 2010 Star, Inc. reported that it received a contract from the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command for a feasibility study of the ElectroDynamic Debris Eliminator (EDDE) propellantless spacecraft for space-debris removal.
  
  In February 2012 the Swiss Space Center at École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne announced the Clean Space One project, a nanosatellite demonstration project for matching orbit with a defunct Swiss nanosatellite, capturing it and de-orbiting together. The mission has seen several evolutions to reach a pac-man inspired capture model.
  
  Section::::Dealing with debris.:External removal.:Laser methods.
   Since 2012, the European Space Agency has designed a mission to remove large space debris from orbit. The mission, e.Deorbit, is scheduled for launch during 2023 with an objective to remove debris heavier than from LEO. Several capture techniques are being studied, including a net, a harpoon and a combination robot arm and clamping mechanism.
  
  Section::::Dealing with debris.:External removal.:Harpoon.
   Instead of being de-orbited, most satellites are either left in their current orbit or moved to a graveyard orbit. As of 2002, the FCC requires all geostationary satellites to commit to moving to a graveyard orbit at the end of their operational life prior to launch. In cases of uncontrolled de-orbiting, the major variable is the solar flux, and the minor variables the components and form factors of the satellite itself, and the gravitational perturbations generated by the Sun and the Moon (as well as those exercised by large mountain ranges, whether above or below sea level). The nominal breakup altitude due to aerodynamic forces and temperatures is 78 km, with a range between 72 and 84 km. Solar panels, however, are destroyed before any other component at altitudes between 90 and 95 km.
   Although the ITU requires geostationary satellites to move to a graveyard orbit at the end of their lives, the selected orbital areas do not sufficiently protect GEO lanes from debris. Rocket stages (or satellites) with enough propellant may make a direct, controlled de-orbit, or if this would require too much propellant, a satellite may be brought to an orbit where atmospheric drag would cause it to eventually de-orbit. This was done with the French Spot-1 satellite, reducing its atmospheric re-entry time from a projected 200 years to about 15 by lowering its altitude from to about .
   BULLET::::- Long March 2D
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 2E - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 2F
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 3
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 3 - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 3A
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 3B - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 3B/E
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 3C
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 4
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 4A - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 4B
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 4C
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 5
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 5B
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 6
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 7
  
  BULLET::::- Long March 11
  
  Section::::Europe.
  
  BULLET::::- Ariane
  
  BULLET::::- Ariane 1 - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Ariane 2 - "Retired"
  
  BULLET::::- Ariane 3 - "Retired"
   Section::::History.:Restoring full capacity.:Finishing the constellation.
   A worldwide network of operational geostationary meteorological satellites is used to provide visible and infrared images of Earth's surface and atmosphere. As of 2019 there are 19 satellites in either operation or stand-by. These satellite systems include:
  
  BULLET::::- the United States' GOES series, operated by NOAA
  
  BULLET::::- the Meteosat series, launched by the European Space Agency and operated by the European Weather Satellite Organization, EUMETSAT
  
  BULLET::::- the Republic of Korea COMS-1 and GK-2A multi mission satellites.
  
  BULLET::::- the Russian Elektro-L satellites
  
  BULLET::::- the Japanese Himawari series
  
  BULLET::::- Chinese Fengyun series
  
  BULLET::::- India's INSAT series
   Section::::Mission profile.:Orbital insertion.
   The design for demise (D4D) project investigates the processes that launch vehicle components undergo during re-entry. Special focus lies on the fragmentation behaviour of components like depleted stages, boosters, fairings or payload adapters. The goal is to better understand the behaviour via numeric simulations, the creation of material databases and plasma wind tunnel tests. The findings contribute to a reduced risk of debris impacting on the ground in compliance with ESA debris mitigation requirements.
  
  Section::::Projects.:Current Projects.:Power over Ethernet.
   BULLET::::- Earth observation satellites and spy satellites use LEO as they are able to see the surface of the Earth clearly by being close to it. They are also able to traverse the surface of the Earth. A majority of artificial satellites are placed in LEO, making one complete revolution around the Earth in about 90 minutes.
  
  BULLET::::- The International Space Station is in a LEO about to above Earth's surface, and needs reboosting a few times a year due to orbital decay.
  
  BULLET::::- Iridium satellites orbit at about .
   Section::::Programmes.:On-orbit satellite servicing.
  
presuppositions: It is necessary to bring satellites down from space in order to fix or replace them. Humans can get satellites down from orbit to replace and fix them.
corrections: We do not bring satellites down from space because any deorbit of a satellite is destructive. Humans don't get satellites down from orbit to replace and fix them but rather make the satellite destructive.
raw_presuppositions: It is necessary to bring satellites down from space in order to fix or replace them. Humans can get satellites down from orbit to replace and fix them.
raw_corrections: We do not bring satellites down from space because any deorbit of a satellite is destructive. Humans don't get satellites down from orbit to replace and fix them but rather make the satellite destructive.