It has become normal for space agencies to deorbit or decommission satellites once it has outlived their purpose, but SpaceX is cutting some of Starlink's satellites short due to an unspecified risk from a defect that will affect a hundred of the internet providers crafts in space.
SpaceX Deorbiting 100 Satellites
Elon Musk's space company announced that there have been defects with the early models of the Starlink satellites, resulting in the need for them to be decommissioned and removed from low Earth before they cause any trouble.
SpaceX and Starlink failed to disclose what these issues are, only the problematic satellites need to deorbit a large set of them through controlled descents. Given the large number that needs to be taken care of, the space agency will do so gradually over six months.
It was claimed that the deorbiting process would be safe as the affected batch would be able to avoid collisions through the use of its onboard propulsion systems. This process would be "much shorter and safer than a comparable ballistic deorbit from an equivalent altitude," as per Gizmodo.
It helps that the satellites are placed in low altitudes, most of which are around 340 to 614 kilometers above ground. Starlink assured that through the process of decommissioning a huge number of satellites, its services will not be affected by it.
SpaceX said in a statement that while the preemptive decommissioning comes at the cost of losing satellites that are serving customers effectively, they "believe it is the right thing to do to keep space safe and sustainable."
The company even encouraged other satellite operators and owners to deorbit satellites before they become non-maneuverable. For Starlink, this might not be an issue since there are 5,402 functioning satellites currently in orbit right now.
Plus, Starlink's decommissioning of 100 satellites in six months can easily be replaced by 200 more in just a month, thanks to its association with SpaceX. Currently, it has already disposed of more than 406 units from all the launched satellites to date.
Starlink Plans to Launch Way More
Even with the already massive number of satellites in orbit, Starlink os reportedly launched tens of thousands more satellites in the future, which could be the source of concerns over the growing number of artificial structures in low Earth orbit.
A professor of astronomy has expressed their concern over the number of satellites that are being launched now as well as in the future, with more than 100 lunar missions planned in the next decade with an unknown number of satellites that are intended to be orbited.
As per PBS, these missions are contributing to the already crowded low Earth orbit, as there are already up to 7,700 satellites within a few hundred miles from Earth. This could pose a problem for future space missions.
Space launch expert Johnathan McDowell described it as "an interstate highway, at rush hour in a snowstorm, with everyone driving much too fast." There's a real possibility that spacecraft may face difficulties leaving Earth's orbit in the future due to all the obstacles it has to avoid colliding with.
