CAPE CANAVERAL, July 7 — The sky above us is becoming a graveyard for machinery. Between December and May, SpaceX pulled 260 of its old Starlink satellites out of orbit, sending them to burn up in the atmosphere. Each one weighed 2,700 pounds.
The total mass that incinerated over those six months: 702,000 pounds. That is 318,500 kilograms of metal, electronics and solar panels turned to vapor high above the Earth.
To put it in terms that land on the ground, it is about the weight of 175 mid-size cars. SpaceX did not slow down its launches, either. Over the same period, the company sent roughly 1,200 new Starlink satellites into orbit.
The net result is a constellation that keeps growing — by about 940 satellites in just half a year. The total number of Starlink satellites launched since 2019 has passed 7,000.
Why the old ones are coming down
The deorbitings are not random. The older v1.0 and v1.5 satellites are reaching the end of their working lives. The newer v2 Mini satellites are designed to last five years.
When a satellite stops functioning, the Federal Communications Commission requires it to be removed from orbit within five years of finishing its mission. The rule is meant to keep space from becoming a junkyard.
Of the more than 7,000 Starlink satellites launched, about 1,000 have either been deorbited or have failed in orbit. The 260 that came down in the past six months represent about 26 percent of all the Starlink satellites that have ever been deorbited. That is a sharp acceleration.
Each satellite weighs about 2,700 pounds. When it reenters, it does not land anywhere.
It burns up completely, or nearly so, in the upper atmosphere.
A constellation that keeps growing
SpaceX is not slowing down. The company continues to launch new satellites at a pace that far exceeds the rate at which old ones come down. The net growth of about 940 satellites over six months means the constellation is expanding faster than ever.
The Starlink network is designed to provide internet access to remote and underserved areas around the world. But the scale of the project is enormous.
More than 7,000 satellites have been launched since 2019. The FCC requires that all satellites be deorbited within five years of the end of their mission. The rule applies to all operators, not just SpaceX.
But because Starlink is by far the largest constellation, it is the one that attracts the most attention when it comes to space debris and orbital management.
What comes next
The pace of deorbitings is likely to increase. As more v1.0 and v1.5 satellites reach the end of their design lives, more will be commanded to fire their thrusters and drop into the atmosphere. The newer v2 Mini satellites have a longer design life — five years — so they will stay in orbit longer.
For now, the numbers tell the story. 260 satellites deorbited in six months. 702,000 pounds of mass incinerated. About 1,000 total deorbited or failed since 2019.
And more than 7,000 launched, with the constellation still growing. The sky above us is changing. The question is whether we are managing that change responsibly.
The FCC rules are one safeguard. But as the number of satellites in low Earth orbit continues to climb, the conversation about space debris, atmospheric effects and the long-term sustainability of mega-constellations is only just beginning.
