A debris field made up of the remains of a Starlink satellite is floating in space, after a minor explosion shattered pieces of the technology and sent them orbiting Earth.
SpaceX reported abnormality earlier this week, which the company said resulted in traceable debris that included the satellite’s propulsion tank and the largely intact satellite body, which remains in place. Orbit. SpaceX says the satellite, which the company says is not close enough to the International Space Station (ISS) to pose a risk to astronauts, will re-enter the atmosphere and reach its “demise” next week.
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“As the world’s largest operator of satellite constellations, we are deeply committed to space safety. We take these events very seriously. Our engineers are working quickly to resolve the root cause and mitigate the source of the anomaly, and are already in the process of deploying software on our vehicles that increases protection against this type of event.” books SpaceX.
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Earth’s orbit is full of such debris, which prompted us Concern among experts Who warn that accumulating space junk will hamper our space efforts, lead to larger and more dangerous collisions, and, most importantly, pose an increasing danger to humans on Earth. Last week, a SpaceX satellite and a Chinese company CAS Space satellite were launched They almost collided with each other.
This anomaly comes one week after airlines and telecoms Launching 27 new Starlink satellites Space magazine reported that this was the 580th flight of the company’s Falcon 9 rocket since its first successful deployment in 2015, and was the 162nd flight in 2025 alone. Of the more than 10,000 Starlink satellites sent into space, about 9,300 are still active.
The Elon Musk-owned company continues its aggressive push to become the leading supplier of rural broadband internet and emergency satellite communications services, including ongoing deals with the U.S. government. SpaceX has objected to federal funding allocations for fiber Internet access projects and won the endorsement of the FCC in a bid to get priority for satellite Internet over other broadband efforts.