Feb. 5, 2025 (Spaceweather.com): What goes up, must come down–which could be a problem when you’re launching thousands of satellites. Since 2018, SpaceX has placed more than 7,000 Starl…
I don’t think this counts as SpaceX’s fault. Y’all need to read up on how low-earth orbits work. Otherwise, we all look like space illiterate Luddites.
Satellites in low-earth orbit (e.g. the International Space Station) still encounter some air resistance. The atmosphere doesn’t just end; it technically continues out to the moon, thinning out along the way.
Previous kinds of satellite internet relied on satellites in geostationary orbit, which is far enough away from Earth for air resistance to be a non-issue. Unfortunately, they also suffer from time delay as internet signals travel between it and Earth.
SpaceX’s StarLink and China’s Qianfan solve this by placing satellite internet in low-Earth-orbit, removing the delay by being physically closer. [1] However, you need thousands of low-orbit satellites to provide full internet coverage across the Earth because since each satellite is way closer to Earth, their antennas oversee way less land area.
Since they’re closer to Earth, they also experience significant air resistance which slows their orbit and will cause them to eventually fall down and burn up in the lower atmosphere. To prevent this, StarLink satellites have thrusters to re-boost their orbits. Once the fuel for them runs out though, they still have to fall down.
TLDR: This is inevitable. China’s internet satellite constellations will have the exact same problem once deployed.
No company can control how their satellite falls, except make sure it lands in the general area of the Pacific Ocean. China has the same problem with deorbiting rocket stages.
There are plenty of other things to nail SpaceX on, such as blowing up Starship prototypes near populated areas without safety assessments, but this is not one of them. These Starlink satellites are being deorbited on purpose for retirement using the booster engine, but pointed to push them into the atmosphere. By doing so, SpaceX can make sure leftover debris lands in the Pacific, away from people.
Once the satellites are in low earth orbit, their future deorbiting is inevitable. Any concerns about vaporized satellite metals harming the atmosphere should have been assessed before putting them up there, though I don’t think anyone made noise about that issue until now.
I don’t think this counts as SpaceX’s fault. Y’all need to read up on how low-earth orbits work. Otherwise, we all look like space illiterate Luddites.
Satellites in low-earth orbit (e.g. the International Space Station) still encounter some air resistance. The atmosphere doesn’t just end; it technically continues out to the moon, thinning out along the way.
Previous kinds of satellite internet relied on satellites in geostationary orbit, which is far enough away from Earth for air resistance to be a non-issue. Unfortunately, they also suffer from time delay as internet signals travel between it and Earth.
SpaceX’s StarLink and China’s Qianfan solve this by placing satellite internet in low-Earth-orbit, removing the delay by being physically closer. [1] However, you need thousands of low-orbit satellites to provide full internet coverage across the Earth because since each satellite is way closer to Earth, their antennas oversee way less land area.
Since they’re closer to Earth, they also experience significant air resistance which slows their orbit and will cause them to eventually fall down and burn up in the lower atmosphere. To prevent this, StarLink satellites have thrusters to re-boost their orbits. Once the fuel for them runs out though, they still have to fall down.
TLDR: This is inevitable. China’s internet satellite constellations will have the exact same problem once deployed.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJceuj30-Z8 ↩︎
yes, this by design will fall down. the problem is the they don’t care what damage it causes to the environment.
No company can control how their satellite falls, except make sure it lands in the general area of the Pacific Ocean. China has the same problem with deorbiting rocket stages.
There are plenty of other things to nail SpaceX on, such as blowing up Starship prototypes near populated areas without safety assessments, but this is not one of them. These Starlink satellites are being deorbited on purpose for retirement using the booster engine, but pointed to push them into the atmosphere. By doing so, SpaceX can make sure leftover debris lands in the Pacific, away from people.
Once the satellites are in low earth orbit, their future deorbiting is inevitable. Any concerns about vaporized satellite metals harming the atmosphere should have been assessed before putting them up there, though I don’t think anyone made noise about that issue until now.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy: