Starlink, Elon Musk’s fleet reduced to avoid chaos in orbit

The decision follows a recent incident in December, when one of the network’s satellites suffered a technical anomaly that interrupted its communications at around 418 kilometers altitude. The event generated a modest amount of orbiting debris and suggested possible structural failure or a small explosion on board, a rare but critical event for the global connectivity giant. By bringing the fleet below the 500 kilometer threshold, Elon Musk’s creature intends to position itself in an area less densely populated by wreckage and other programmed constellations, drastically reducing the statistical probabilities of kinetic impacts.

With a network that now numbers almost 10,000 operating units, Starlink currently represents the largest satellite operator in the world. The density achieved by this technological mesh imposes new traffic management standards, especially in a context in which the race for broadband services and satellite images is accelerating the pace of launch globally. The repositioning at 480 kilometers should also facilitate a more rapid atmospheric re-entry of satellites that have reached the end of their life cycle, limiting the permanence of inert objects in the busiest trajectories around the Earth.