SpaceX told the Federal Communications Commission that it deorbited 260 Starlink satellites between December 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026. All 260 were brought down on purpose, in a semi-annual filing that Tom’s Hardware, Meyka and Satnews each reported on.
The split by generation is lopsided. 176 of the satellites came from the original first-generation fleet and 84 from the newer second generation. SpaceX also pulled another 349 satellites from service during the same six months. Those are waiting for disposal in the coming months.
Here is how the process works. Starlink satellites are built for a service life of about five years, a design that lets SpaceX swap in newer hardware as fuel runs low. When that point comes, the satellite uses what propellant it has left to lower its altitude and drop into the atmosphere, where friction destroys it. Tom’s Hardware put it plainly: the spacecraft is incinerated completely and leaves no debris falling to the ground.
Why not bring them home? SpaceX says retrieval is technically impractical and financially unviable. First-generation units weigh 260 to 295 kg (573 to 650 lbs) each, and second-generation units weigh 800 to 1,250 kg (1,764 to 2,756 lbs).
How this compares
The latest total is higher than the 218 satellites disposed of in the six months before it, Meyka reported. It is well short of the 472 deorbited between December 2024 and May 2025, which Meyka called the largest six-month total on record. With a fleet this size, SpaceX disposes of satellites almost daily.
The FCC requires operators of large constellations to reach a 95% post-mission disposal reliability rate. SpaceX reported a rate above 99% in this filing. The constellation now exceeds 10,000 operational satellites, and SpaceX is lowering the orbits of roughly 4,400 of them during 2026, to about 480 km altitude, to cut collision risk, Meyka said. Newer Starlink V3 satellites are already taking the place of retired ones.
The environmental argument
Every burn-up adds to a question researchers have raised about the upper atmosphere. They have urged more study and regulation of satellites’ environmental effects. The FCC has historically kept satellites out of formal environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act, and advocacy groups want that exclusion removed. Removing it would mean full environmental impact statements before future launches get approved.
Tom’s Hardware quoted the FCC’s own proposal on the other side of the argument: that space-based operations be excluded from NEPA because they are “‘extraterritorial activities’ with effects located entirely outside of the jurisdiction of the United States.” That proposal had not yet been approved at the time of the report.
The growth plans make the question bigger. SpaceX aims to eventually put up to 42,000 Starlink satellites in low-Earth orbit, and it won FCC approval for 7,500 additional Gen2 satellites in January. It has also unveiled an A1 orbital data center satellite with a 120 kW compute payload.
Sources
- SpaceX FCC Filing Discloses Controlled Deorbit of 260 Starlink Satellites Between Dec 2025 and May 2026 | Meyka
- SpaceX vaporizes 260 Starlink satellites in six months using Earth's atmosphere — new environmental concerns emerge over burning 2,700-pound orbital data centers, FCC seeks to exempt satellites from regulations
- SpaceX Controlled-Deorbit Report Discloses Decommissioning of 260 Starlink Satellites Over Six Months
