SINGAPORE, July 7 — When a satellite finishes its job, the responsible thing is to take it out of orbit before it becomes a piece of space junk. For SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, that means a slow, controlled burn high above our heads. Each satellite, weighing 2,700 pounds, is guided down using its onboard ion thrusters.
The process lowers the satellite’s altitude until atmospheric drag takes over, pulling it into a final plunge. The company designs these spacecraft to fully disintegrate between 50 and 80 kilometers above Earth—roughly 31 to 50 miles up, in the mesosphere and stratosphere.
The entire descent, from the first engine firing to the last flash of incineration, takes weeks to months per satellite.
A massive cleanup operation already underway
The scale of this operation is staggering. In just the first half of 2025, SpaceX deorbited 260 Starlink satellites. That represents a total mass of 702,000 pounds, or 318,500 kilograms, of hardware incinerated in the upper atmosphere.
Since 2019, the company has deorbited more than 1,000 satellites in total. This is the standard method for end-of-life satellites, designed to prevent the accumulation of debris in low-Earth orbit.
The Federal Communications Commission requires satellite operators to ensure a 90 percent probability of successful disposal within 25 years. SpaceX, however, aims for immediate disposal to avoid collision risks with other spacecraft.
The chemistry of re-entry
But the sheer volume of material being burned up raises questions that scientists are still working to answer. Each satellite contains metals like aluminum. When these burn at re-entry temperatures, they can form aluminum oxide particles.
Research has shown that these particles may catalyze ozone depletion in the stratosphere. The 260 satellites deorbited in the first half of 2025 alone represent a significant injection of metal oxides into a sensitive layer of the atmosphere.
The cumulative effect of more than 1,000 satellites since 2019—and the thousands more that will eventually need to come down—is not yet fully understood.
A standard procedure under scrutiny
The method itself is not controversial. Using onboard ion thrusters to lower a satellite’s orbit until atmospheric drag does the rest is standard practice across the satellite industry. It is far preferable to leaving defunct spacecraft in orbit, where they could collide with other satellites or the International Space Station.
What is new is the sheer number of satellites involved. Before Starlink, no single operator had ever deorbited hundreds of satellites in a single year.
The FCC’s 25-year rule was designed for a much smaller population of satellites. SpaceX’s approach of immediate disposal is more aggressive than the regulation requires, driven by the practical need to keep orbital lanes clear for the rest of the constellation. The company has stated that each satellite is designed to fully disintegrate during re-entry, meaning no debris should reach the ground.
The altitude range of 50 to 80 kilometers is chosen specifically to ensure complete burn-up.
Looking ahead
As of July 2026, the Starlink constellation continues to grow. The first half of 2025 saw 260 satellites deorbited, but that number could rise as older satellites are replaced. The total mass of material entering the atmosphere will increase accordingly.
For regulators and scientists, the question is whether the cumulative atmospheric impact of these re-entries is acceptable. The formation of aluminum oxide particles in the stratosphere is a known chemical pathway for ozone depletion.
The key unknown is whether the current and projected rate of satellite incineration is enough to cause measurable harm.
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