Of the over 9,000 Starlink satellites presently working in low Earth orbit, SpaceX says it’ll decrease about 4,400 from 550km above the Earth’s floor to about 480km within the months forward. This ensures the satellites deorbit quicker when one thing goes mistaken or once they attain finish of life, and likewise reduces the chance of collision since “the variety of particles objects and deliberate satellite tv for pc constellations is considerably decrease under 500km,” wrote Michael Nicolls, VP of Starlink Engineering.
By the top of this decade, there could possibly be as many as 70,000 satellites working in low Earth orbit — the area of house about 160km to 2,000km (100 to 1,200 miles) above the Earth — if personal and government-led efforts meet their targets.
SpaceX had one other record-setting year in 2025. It performed over 160 Falcon 9 missions, with greater than 120 of them devoted to increasing the Starlink constellation. Starlink now serves 9.25 million lively prospects in over 155 nations, markets, and territories.