SpaceX Plans to Deorbit 100 Starlink Satellites

SpaceX plans to remove 100 satellites from orbit, because of a design flaw. The deorbiting will be a controlled descent over the course of six months, whereby all of the satellites will continue to maintain their maneuverability and collision avoidance capabilities. SpaceX will monitor the positions of the satellites and share data with other spacecraft operators and launch providers to ensure that the operation does not cause any type of collision.

SpaceX stated that the loss of the older satellites will not affect Starlink broadband services.  “Starlink’s customer experience will not be impacted” by the deorbiting of the older satellites, the company said. “SpaceX has the capacity to build up to 55 satellites per week and launch more than 200 satellites per month, which allows us to continually improve our system and make it more resilient.”