Overview
- SpaceX VP Michael Nicolls announced that all Starlink spacecraft operating near 550 km will be moved to about 480 km over the course of 2026.
- Nicolls said the lower band has fewer debris objects and planned constellations, and that condensing Starlink’s lanes reduces the aggregate likelihood of collisions.
- Operating closer to Earth increases atmospheric drag, which shortens how long failed satellites remain in orbit and accelerates their natural reentry.
- Nicolls added that approaching solar minimum would otherwise lengthen decay times, while lowering the orbits yields an estimated reduction from more than four years to a few months.
- The reconfiguration follows a December anomaly that produced a small amount of debris and cut communications with a Starlink satellite, as the network has grown to nearly 10,000 spacecraft.