Space trackers have revealed that up to four satellites from Elon Musk’s huge Starlink constellation fall to Earth every day.
Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the United States, has recorded the departure of between one and two Starlink satellites from their orbit every day in 2025, according to a report by the Independent newspaper.
This number is expected to rise to about five satellites per day as SpaceX continues to expand its satellite Internet constellation.
Videos of Starlink satellites falling to Earth have spread across social media in recent weeks, raising concern that they may pose a danger to people on the ground.
There are currently about 20,000 objects being tracked in low Earth orbit, including 12,000 active satellites – 8,500 of which are Starlink satellites.
With a lifespan of approximately five years, Starlink satellites were intentionally designed to completely burn up in Earth’s atmosphere before reaching Earth. So, while these events may seem alarming as they pass through the sky, they are not dangerous.
But Dr. McDowell warned that the return of other objects to the atmosphere could pose a major threat, given that their operators have no control over them.
He said in an interview with the space news magazine “Earth Sky”: “Every few months, a piece of space equipment is reported to return to Earth as debris… So, these random attacks on people on Earth are launched several times a year, and we were very lucky that no one was injured… But this will not last long.”
Removing Starlink satellites from orbit may not pose a direct danger to humans, but Dr. McDowell confirmed that this is considered a real problem.
Scientists are still trying to understand what effect this rate of deorbit will have on Earth’s atmosphere. Pollutants from combustion processes, such as aluminum oxide particles, may contribute to atmospheric warming.
