4,400 Starlink Satellites To Move To Lower Orbit

Authored by Jill McLaughlin via The Epoch Times,

SpaceX will move about 4,400 Starlink satellites to a lower orbit this year to better control risks and improve safety, the company announced Friday.

Michael Nicholls, vice president of Starlink engineering, posted the news on X, saying the adjustment would increase space safety in several ways.

Elon Musk’s Starlink system contributes more than 9,000 satellites to an increasingly crowded Earth orbit. Of those in the Starlink system, only two are not functioning, according to Nicholls.

Nicholls also noted that the atmospheric changes brought on by solar activity can affect satellite operations. An active sun causes a thicker atmosphere, which can bring spacecraft down faster.

Low solar activity, such as during the solar minimum after 2030, can have an opposite effect.

The number of debris objects and planned satellite constellations at the lower orbit—below 500 kilometers from Earth—is smaller, which reduces the likelihood of collision, Nicholls stated.

If a satellite does fail in orbit, Starlink wants to remove it as quickly as possible, improving the safety of the rest of the satellite constellation, Nicholls said.

Starlink also announced Thursday it had lost contact with one of its satellites and that it would work with NASA to monitor it.

“On December 17, Starlink experienced an anomaly on satellite 35956, resulting in loss of communications with the vehicle at 418 km,” Starlink posted on X.

The satellite was largely intact, tumbling, and is expected to reenter the Earth’s atmosphere within weeks. It poses no risk to the orbiting Space Station or its crew, the company stated.

“As the world’s largest satellite constellation operator, we are deeply committed to space safety. We take these events seriously,” the post said.

Starlink has seen explosive growth in the past five years, expanding into a global internet provider with millions of subscribers and challenging traditional satellite and terrestrial broadband internet providers.

The company connected more than 4.6 million users, according to its 2024 year-end report.

In five years, SpaceX has activated internet for more than 2.8 billion people around the world, including in some of the most remote parts of the planet, according to the report.

The U.S. Air Force is also conducting research to consider integrating Starlink into its Ghostrider gunships or heavy-lift cargo planes. Air Force Special Operations Command published a notice Tuesday requesting information on Starlink and its military version, Starshield.