Elon Musk’s Starlinks satellites crashing at high rate with massive fireballs, know why it is worrisome

According to astronomers, January alone has witnessed at least 120 Starlink satellites burning up fireballs after re-entering Earth's atmosphere, over the US skies.

Vaishali Shastri

Updated : Feb 06, 2025, 07:21 PM IST

This surprising crash of Starlink satellites has a connection with the massive retirement of the first-generation (Gen1) Starlink satellites

Elon Musk’s Starlinks satellites crashing at high rate with massive fireballs, know why it is worrisome

As SpaceX continues to soar its mission high, several satellites are burning like fireballs after re-entering Earth's atmosphere. According to astronomers, January alone has witnessed at least 120 Starlink satellites burning up fireballs after re-entering Earth's atmosphere, over the US skies.

An astronomer who tracks satellites’ reentries shared a recent incident of a satellite crash on X. “Starlink 5693 appears to have reentered over the southern Wisconsin/Michigan area at about 0303 to 0305 UTC Jan 29 (9.03 to 9.05pm CST) and was widely observed from neighbouring regions including Chicago." Astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics wrote.

Starlink 5693 appears to have reentered over the southern Wisconsin/Michigan area at about 0303 to 0305 UTC Jan 29 (9.03 to 9.05pm CST) and was widely observed from neighbouring regions including Chicago pic.twitter.com/IDmFxooTZR
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) January 29, 2025

According to astronomer Jonathan McDowell, the rate of daily re-entries of Starlink satellites is unprecedented, with around 4-5 satellites being decommissioned and burned up in the atmosphere every day.

SpaceX's Starlink network, a low-cost internet provider for remote areas, has nearly 7,000 satellites in orbit as of January 2024. To maintain cutting-edge technology, SpaceX aims to upgrade the entire Starlink megaconstellation every five years.

Reasons behind Starlink satellites’ daily crash

This surprising crash of Starlink satellites has a connection with the massive retirement of the first-generation (Gen1) Starlink satellites, and bringing out new models, as 500 of the 4,700 Gen1 satellites have already reached the tip of their deaths.

The re-entries of the satellites not only create a glowing scene of fireballs but also makes the situation worse with atmospheric pollution. A 2023 study discovered that satellite disintegration is releasing metallic vapors into the atmosphere, with 10% of aerosols collected over Alaska at 60,000 feet containing aluminum and other metals from burned-up satellites.

Why is this worrisome?

A recent study reveals that the demise of Gen1 Starlink satellites produces 30 kg of aluminum oxide, a substance that harms the ozone layer. Between 2016 and 2022, these oxides increased eightfold, sparking concerns about uncontrolled atmospheric pollution and experimentation.

In July 2024, 20 newly launched Starlink satellites malfunctioned and crashed back to Earth. SpaceX managed to contact 10 of them and attempted to salvage the situation by using their ion thrusters to raise their orbits. Unfortunately, the satellites were in a high-drag environment and ultimately succumbed to gravity, falling back to the planet.