Overview
- SpaceX confirms surpassing 10,000 Starlink launches following back-to-back Falcon 9 missions reported this week.
- About 8,600 satellites are estimated to be operational, with individual spacecraft typically lasting around five years.
- Starlink now accounts for more than two-thirds of all active satellites, far exceeding OneWeb’s under 650 and Amazon Kuiper’s under 150.
- Astronomers report more satellite streaks in long-exposure images, prompting schedule changes and discarded observations at ground-based facilities.
- Researchers highlight escalating collision and debris risks and note early evidence of metallic particulates from satellite reentries, with limited data and no robust global traffic regime in place.