Leo Gillick
A reported one to two Starlink satellites fall to Earth every day, with far more expected as we continue to fill outer space and the skies above.
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At present, there are around 8,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. This is just one company’s contribution. Beyond just Starlink, there could be an estimated 15,000 satellites in orbit by 2028. This is a whole lot of machinery floating around, and they don’t stay up there forever.
Short Lifespan: The average Starlink satellite will only stay operational for about 5-7 years. Once their time is up, they come hurling back to earth, typically burning up on reentry. There is a high chance, if you’re a stargazer, that you will have spotted one. At present, about 1 or 2 Starlink satellites fall to earth daily in a fiery funeral.
- This number is expected to increase, as it steadily has been. According to Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, we’re on track to have around 30,000 low Earth orbit satellites soon.
- He explained to Earthsky, “With all constellations deployed, we expect about 30,000 low-Earth orbit satellites (Starlink, Amazon Kuiper, others) and perhaps another 20,000 satellites at 1,000 km [620 miles] from the Chinese systems. For the low-orbit satellites we expect a 5-year replacement cycle, and that translates to five reentries a day. It’s not clear if the Chinese will orbit-lower theirs or just accelerate us to chain-reaction Kessler syndrome.”
- This would result in around 5 reentries a day, provided we don’t experience a chain-reaction Kessler syndrome.
Watch Your Head
Typically, on reentry, a Starlink satellite will burn up, leaving little to nothing to fall to Earth. However, that doesn’t mean it never happens, and the effects outside of groundfall are also still not understood.
Science break.
— Firecaptain and Jack (@Firecaptain16) December 22, 2024
On Saturday (Nov. 9) just after 10:00 p.m. Central Standard Time (11:00 p.m. EST or 0400 GMT on Nov. 10), a brilliant fireball that lit up the skies over four U.S. states is reported to be from the fiery reentry of a SpaceX Starlink satellite. pic.twitter.com/LnT8bpkF3C
Particles: One of the biggest concerns about the reentry of expired satellites is the debris left in our Earth’s orbit and the ozone layer. There have been reports of never-before-seen levels of materials around the earth.
- These elements, such as copper, lithium, and aluminum, as well as rare elements, are left behind by deteriorating satellites. They don’t belong in the atmosphere, and the effects are still not understood. There are fears that they will contribute to ozone destruction or the reflection of the sun’s rays.
Incoming: The other fear people have about the increasing number of satellites falling to Earth every day is the parts that don’t burn up. It’s uncommon, but it still happens. Sometimes, larger parts of a satellite will come smashing down to Earth. Thankfully, they typically land somewhere unpopulated, such as the ocean.
