Nearly 500 Starlink Satellites Have Incinerated in Earth's Atmosphere So Far This Year

According to a filing with the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday, 472 Starlink satellites burned up in the atmosphere between December 2024 and May 2025, as SpaceX deorbited around 6% of its active fleet. Starlink satellites are built to last around five years. After that, they're steered into the Earth's atmosphere to burn up. SpaceX, the rocket company owned by Tesla and X CEO Elon Musk, launched the first Starlink satellites in 2019, which means we're now seeing its first full-scale deorbiting. More than 1.4 million homes use Starlink's internet service in the US, and in many rural areas, the technology has been an absolute gamechanger. More

(Source: CNET - Jul 4)