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Comment by _lce0 | Hacker News Reader

Anybody knows what "nonoperational" means. Are those simply shutdown collecting space dust?

Leaving aside if it's allowed/legal .. I wonder if it's possible to establish communication with a nonoperational satellite, and what tools are required to do so

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Last year a team of people crowdfunded, bought some radios off eBay, and took over a decommissioned NASA satelite.

http://observer.com/2014/08/civilians-in-abandoned-mcdonalds...

That's both cool and scary. Someone with a bit of money and a bit more malice could cause a lot of trouble by taking over a satellite:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kessler_syndrome

Most of these are probably completely out of fuel so I wouldnt worry about this.

And even if it had fuel, making it collide with something will be tough. And even if you do that, it's happened before without going all Kessler, although that doesn't mean it can't happen the next time.

If I learned anything but watching The Martian, it's that the law of the sea applies in space. So a nonoperational satellite would be subject to salvage rights?

You should probably qualify that with a Andy-Weir-is-not-a-lawyer disclaimer. There are a few space treaties that probably supersede some elements of "maritime" law.

have you ever tried an orbital rendezvous in KSP?

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