Starlink will move thousands of its satellites for ‘space security’ reasons

Starlink said it would reduce the altitude of thousands of its satellites broadcasting Internet following a crash with one and a near-collision with others, a stark reminder of how crowded – and dangerous – Earth’s orbit has become.

New Year’s Day post onMichael Nicholls, Starlink’s vice president of engineering, said the company will begin “a significant reconfiguration of its satellite constellation” and lower the orbit of about 4,400 satellites, or nearly half of its total of more than 9,000, from their current altitude of about 342 miles to about 298 miles.

Don’t miss any of our unbiased technical content and lab reviews. Add CNET as your preferred Google source.

“Lowering the satellites results in condensation of Starlink’s orbits and will increase space security in several ways,” Nicholls said, including “reducing the overall probability of collision.”

A representative for Starlink did not immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.

Satellite Internet has become an increasingly attractive alternative to terrestrial broadband access options such as cable, fiber optic and DSL, particularly in rural areas. He is most closely identified with Star linka subsidiary of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but other providers include Hughesnet and Viasat. These satellites are generally in low Earth orbit, unlike those like GPS satellite which are thousands of kilometers from the ground.

In early December, a Starlink satellite came within about 200 meters (656 feet) of a Chinese satellite, Nicholls posted on X on December 12. He said the Chinese satellite was one of nine satellites deployed days earlier and pointed to “lack of coordination among satellite operators”, citing negligence by operators at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China before the nine satellites were deployed. “This must change,” he said in his message.

There is nearly 12,000 active satellites in orbit and thousands more that have stopped working. That number is expected to grow rapidly as SpaceX continues to send Starlink satellites and rival internet constellations are built by projects such as Amazon Leo (formerly Project Kuiper) and China’s “Thousand Sails” project.

Starlink’s announcement this week comes two weeks after that of one of its satellites.experienced an anomaly” and began “falling” toward Earth from its height of 260 miles. The company said the object would disintegrate when it hit Earth’s atmosphere and would also pose no danger to the International Space Station, which also flies in low Earth orbit.

More from CNET: Starlink Internet Review: Plans, Prices, Speed ​​and Availability

In his X article this week, Nicholls also highlighted “solar minimum” as another reason for reducing the orbital altitude of his satellites. Solar minimum is the period when there is the least solar activity – such as sunspots and solar flares – during the sun’s 11-year solar cycle. During this phase, satellites can last longer in space because there is less atmospheric density and therefore less drag on the vehicle. But it also means more congestion for a longer period of time.

Nicholls said the “ballistic decay time” of satellites – that is, the time it takes for a projectile to lose energy as it descends towards Earth – would drop from more than four years to just a few months.