WASHINGTON — U.S. Space Command on June 28 sent a reminder that it will closely monitor the controlled deorbiting of about 100 Starlink satellites, an operation SpaceX announced in February.
The decision to deorbit these early version 1 Starlink satellites came after SpaceX identified a potential issue that could increase the risk of future failures. The operation, which is expected to last several months, involves a controlled descent of satellites from low Earth orbit.
With a massive constellation of some 6,000 satellites and growing, SpaceX routinely deorbits spacecraft at the end of their operational life. However, deorbiting 100 satellites at a time is a larger operation than usual.
To keep the public informed, U.S. Space Command said reentry information for each satellite will be available on Space-Track.org, a public catalog used to track orbital objects and prevent potential collisions.
Space Force units under the US Space Command are working with SpaceX to “safely track the orbit descent and re-entry of Starlink satellites,” the command said in a news release.
Satellites designed to burn up on reentry
This monitoring effort comes against a backdrop of growing concern about the risks posed by the rapid expansion of low-Earth orbit satellite constellations. TO Controversial Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) A report to Congress last year warned that by 2035, debris falling from U.S.-authorized constellations in low-Earth orbit could injure or kill someone every two years if deployments continue as planned.
SpaceX has strongly disputed these findings, calling the FAA report a “deeply flawed analysis” based on outdated studies and questionable assumptions. The company maintains that its satellites are designed to burn completely upon re-entrywhich represents minimal risk to people on the ground.
Related
Leave feedback about this