SpaceX is about to pull 100 Starlink satellites out of orbit

US company SpaceX plans to remove about 100 old Starlink satellites from orbit because of a design flaw that could cause them to fail.

Starlink satellite cluster before deployment into orbit. Photo: SpaceX

In an announcement on February 12, SpaceX said the company will carry out a controlled descent of about 100 Starlink version 1 internet satellites due to concerns that they could become damaged in orbit and become uncontrollable.

“These satellites are currently controllable and serving users effectively, but the Starlink team has identified a common issue within this small satellite fleet that could increase the likelihood of future failures,” SpaceX said. The company did not elaborate on the issue or the specific satellites affected.

SpaceX has 5,438 Starlink satellites in orbit out of the 5,828 launched to date, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics who tracks SpaceX's internet satellites. The oldest satellites still in orbit are version 1 satellites, launched in 2019 and 2020. They lack the sunshields (added to later versions) that reduce the amount of sunlight reflected, reducing their brightness. Of those 420 older satellites, 337 are still in orbit.

SpaceX said the satellites will gradually reduce their orbits over about six months. All will maintain maneuverability and collision avoidance during the descent. Starlink satellites are designed to disintegrate completely, posing no risk to people on the ground, in the air, or at sea, as they re-enter the atmosphere and burn up.

Removing older satellites will not impact Starlink broadband services, SpaceX said. “Starlink’s customer experience will not be impacted by the deorbiting of older satellites. SpaceX has the ability to build up to 55 satellites per week and launch more than 200 satellites per month. This allows us to continually improve the system and make it more resilient,” the company said.

Thu Thao (According to Space News )

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