Almost 500 satellites in the atmosphere of the earth so far this year

According to Submission to the Federal Communications Committee On Tuesday, 472 Starlink Sarelites was burned in the air between December 2024 and May 2025, where Spacex ignored about 6 % of its active fleet.

Starlink satellites are built to last for about five years. After that, they went to the atmosphere of the earth to burn. Spacex, the Tesla and X missile company, launched the CEO of X Elon Musk, the first Starlink in 2019, which means that we are now witnessing the first widespread removal. Use more than 1.4 million Starlink’s homes Internet service In the United States, in many rural areas, Gamechanger technology was absolutely.

But scientists have raised concerns about the unintended consequences that come with such an unprecedented height in the number of satellites in the sky. Among approximately 10,000 active objects in the low-Earth’s orbit-about 1,200 miles from the surface of the Earth or the closest-more than 7,750 belonging to Starlink, According to the data Jonathan McDawell, an astronomical physicist who tracks satellite launch.

Spacex provides voluntary reports to the Federal Communications Committee (FCC) twice a year on the state of the satellite constellation. in December checkpointOnly 73 of the satellite has been canceled in the previous six period. This tremendous increase can have serious effects here on the ground.

Scientists have increasingly found the minerals from the spacecraft in the stratosphere, and in rare cases, the space debris reached Earth. Spacex revealed last summer (PDF) that a piece of aluminum is found 5.5 pounds of Starlink satellite on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada.

“As usual, humanity is doing a new experience with our environment. We are doing something that nature has not done before,” Maccuel told CNET.

Spacex insists that the process of removing mystery is safe, Establishing the risk of human injury (PDF) in “less than 1 out of 100 million” for current V2 satellites.

“Industrial satellites exceeded industry standards for Demisability, with no accountable risk of life on Earth, as well as the target of the satellites to unmanned areas in the world,” says Spacex.

Spacex representatives did not immediately respond to the comment.

Climate scientists are concerned about the burning of satellites

With the first STARLINK launch operations only recently ignores large numbers, we are still in an unknown area when it comes to planning climate effects.

Spacex already contains permission from the Federal Communications Committee (FCC According to the space site.

One study It was found funded by NASA and published in the speeches of geophysical research in June of last year that the satellite is 550 pounds, which releases about 66 lbs of aluminum oxide particles when it burns in the atmosphere. These nanoparticles increased eight times from 2016 to 2022, and the current satellites weigh 1760 pounds all.

Separate samples The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration found “aluminum and exotic minerals” in 10 % of the wreckage of the particles in the stratosphere. They expected this number to grow to 50 % “based on the number of satellites launched in the low -Earth orbit.” But what is the effect of these minerals that will have an open question.

“I impression of talking to the various groups that take place this type of research is that if you have to bet, you may bet that the research will appear, saying that we are still at least a lower arrangement than the size that may cause a big problem,” said McDowell.

However, a group of scholars wrote Open a message to FCC (PDF) In October of last year, this is required to stop the new satellite because of the “destroyed gases and minerals in Jonah”.

There are currently more than 12,000 active satellites in orbit, 7,751 of which belong to Starlink. But it is only possible at the beginning of the satellite race – the 2020 article published in nature I expected that 100,000 satellites in the sky by 2030 “not only possible but possible.”

“This is part of the biggest story on how to increase space activity to the point that we have an effect that we had never had on the environment,” said McDowell. “We are at a stage where there were a lot of things that you used to be completely suitable to ignore and go to it,” very small for anxiety ” – it’s now so great enough that we need to look at it.”