Elon Musk's Starlink satellites are falling to Earth at an alarming rate

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: The Independent

Thursday 09 October 2025 12:19 BST


Up to four satellites from Elon Musk’s massive Starlink constellation are falling to Earth every day, according to space trackers. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard–Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in the US, recorded an average of between one to two Starlink satellites deorbiting each day in 2025.

That figure is expected to rise to around five per day as SpaceX continues to grow its space internet constellation. Videos of Starlink satellites falling to Earth have appeared across social media in recent weeks, causing concern that they could pose a risk to people on the ground.

There are currently around 20,000 objects being tracked in low-Earth orbit, including 12,000 working satellites – 8,500 of which are Starlink satellites. With a lifespan of around five years, Starlink satellites are purposefully designed to burn up entirely in the Earth’s atmosphere before reaching the ground. So while the events may appear alarming as they streak across the sky, they are not dangerous.

Dr McDowell warned that other objects re-entering could pose a significant threat, as they are not being controlled by their operators.

Read more: https://www.independent.co.uk/space/elon-musk-starlink-satellites-deorbit-b2842265.html

[eppur_se_muova]

1. So ... they're built like Teslas ? nt

[Martin68]

21. Actually, teslas are remarkably well built and able to withstand severe crashes with little interior damage.

https://www.reddit.com/r/TeslaModelY/comments/103w1g9/here_is_a_photo_of_the_tesla_model_y_that_tumbled/

[eppur_se_muova]

22. Well, don't ever try towing with a Cybertruck ...

That looks a little worse than the body panels flying off at highway speed, which led to all 46,000 being recalled.

[Irish_Dem]

2. Musk is becoming a trillionaire creating huge amounts of space junk.

Grifting off the US taxpayer.

[IthinkThereforeIAM]

3. I guess now that election 2024 is over...

... there isn't much need for them anymore?

[Botany]

26. Bingo

Musk turned on 265 low earth orbit satellites that were into his Starlink network on
10/30/24 and they were using DTC … direct to cell … technology and those cell phones
were in contact to Dominion Voting Systems and E.S.&S.’s operating systems and
central tabulators without leaving any “fingerprints.” The cell phones were in contact
with firmware patches and could download, look @, and manipulate the voting data.
Harris didn’t really lose but had millions of votes deleted and or flipped away from her
and Palantir/Peter Thiel was running something called “digital janitor” that didn’t delete
or flip votes but covered up an evidence of that that happened.

[Ocelot II]

4. I have a few ideas about good places for them to fall...

[BlueKota]

11. I was thinking the same thing

[markodochartaigh]

5. Also,

"These satellites are mostly made of aluminum, which turns into aluminum oxide when burned at high temperatures, such as those experienced by satellites hurtling through Earth's atmosphere at orbital speeds. This aluminum ash accumulating at high altitudes worries scientists because of its potential to damage Earth's protective ozone layer and alter its albedo — the ability to reflect sunlight — which could result in changes in the temperature of the upper atmosphere."

https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-reentry-pollution-damage-earth-atmosphere

[groundloop]

8. This is yet another way in which Elmo is screwing us while he gets even richer.

[mwb970]

6. Metaphor alert!

[JoseBalow]

7. They pollute the sky, and they pollute the Earth

Elon is a pestilence.

[Gore1FL]

9. They are built to do that.

The business model was to have enough launched to replaced the older de-orbiting ones.

[ThoughtCriminal]

10. 2025 is peak solar activity

High solar activity expands the Earth's atmosphere, causing more low-Earth orbit satellites to experience more drag and re-enter at a greater rate.

I'm not too worried about debris from a Starlink satellite reaching the ground, but I do worry about the environmental effects of large numbers of these objects breaking up in the upper atmosphere .

[defacto7]

12. Yay!

Hey Musk ... So, you thought the earth's atmosphere was smooth and static, huh? Surprise! Go back to High School and take a course in Earth Science or Astronomy101. Better yet, give up while we're all still alive.

[Crowman2009]

13. I believe Devo wrote a song about this.

&list=RDZ2dcVIEQwEE&start_radio=1

[Warpy]

14. Do I hear an "Oops?" Looks like anoher vast idea with a half vast follow through

and either sloppy math or a badly thought out delivery system. Twenty years from now, Starlink receivers will be in museums next to buggy whips and quill pens. With any luck, people will be scratching their heads, wondering how a doofus like Elon Musk could have been considered such a ferocious enemy of the American people.

It looks like we can file this one next to the Hyperlink, self driving cabs that have no way to steer or sto-p them if they swerve into oncoming traffic, and anything wih the word "pod" in the proposal.

[Shipwack]

20. Agreed! In fact, I would bet good money...

that, as usual, Musk decided to have the satellites designed without any research on what the standard “best practices” of satellite design were.

As a result, they probably have some basic design error that was eliminated in the ‘60s, but he replicated it unknowingly because he thinks he’s the smartest person who ever lived, and doesn’t need to look at what has been done before.

[Warpy]

24. Getting them up there is only half the battle

You have to figure out how to keep them there and that requires either meticulous math or a system to boost them back into proper orbit if they start to drift out of it. NASA has gotten good at that sort of thing. Musk is a tyro who thinks he can cut major corners and just collect accolades and billions of dollars.

[Shipwack]

29. Exactly! You made my point much better than I was.

For example, part of the design for a launchpad includes a flame trench. This has been a feature for more than 50 years. I'd have to look up the exact figure.

Musk decided to find out if one was necessary. He didn'tdo any researdh or testing, just built a trenchless launchpad and tested a real rocket and payload on it. The result? The reflected blast from the laucnh destroyed the pad, rocket, and payload. In addition, toxic debris was rained down on the local community. To him, the cost was pocket change... That is, if you don't count all the nearby people that could have been hurt.

All of which could have been avoided with an afternon of reading, and/or a bit of testing. But he wants to launch rockets NOW!

Veruca Musk, maybe?

?si=UxW2KCLyMwtKMY0b

[Hassler]

15. Elmo's accomplishments: shitty truck, rocket, satellite, AI, Xhitter

DOGE

[progree]

16. Kessler effect - the more stuff that's up there, the more chance of collisions. We're already in the early stages

of an ultimately run-away cascade. Satellites and the International Space Station already have to maneuver to get out of the way of space junk. Space walks are getting ever more risky.

But who cares, the S&P 500 and NASDAQ set all time records again Wednesday.

[FemDemERA]

17. Not the same thing I know, but I was just listening to "It came out of the sky"...

Made me feel so good, I played it twice. Sometimes you just have to have a little fun...

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. Not as complicated as it may seem. Hear me out.

I spent 45 years in the telecommunications business.

I first used a data satellite link about 40 years ago. It was painfully slow.

When Musk announced his Starlink expansion a few years ago I explained my experience with satellite data links. There were people here on DU who explained Musk was defeating the slower speed problem by putting his satellites at a lower orbit.

Well as the old saying goes what goes up must come down. Looks like the lower orbit satellites are finally coming down.

[Old Crank]

19. What kind of pollution

Does this add to our atmosphere?

[hunter]

23. These satellites are filthy going up and they are filthy coming down.

What's worse, they contribute to the destruction of earth's remaining wilderness by providing easy internet access everywhere.

Let wilderness be wilderness -- without roads, without cell phone service, without easy internet access. Let communication on the high seas remain limited.

Like all or most of Musk's technologies, Starlink does not make the world a better place.

[Gore1FL]

27. Better they come down than remain in orbit.

Honestly, the planned natural de-orbit of their older devices it's one of the things they did right.

[ck4829]

25. That's not good

[genxlib]

28. WTH. It's not rocket science!

Oh wait...