In Short
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The surge in crashing of Starlinks is being blamed on the mass retirement
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The re-entries produce visually stunning fireballs
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Each Gen1 Starlink satellite produces about 30 kilograms of aluminum oxide
As SpaceX’s Starlink constellation expands, what goes up must come down, leading to a notable increase in satellite deorbits.
Astronomers, tracking the objects in the sky noted that in January alone, over 120 Starlink satellites re-entered Earth’s atmosphere, and burned up creating spectacular fireballs.
While the re-entries produce visually stunning fireballs, they also raise concerns about atmospheric pollution. The disintegration of satellites adds metallic vapours to the atmosphere.
A 2023 study found that 10% of aerosols collected 60,000 feet over Alaska contained aluminum and other metals from satellite burn-up.
Intentional deorbits are hardly “crashing”.
The aerosol problem is very real though. They have been found to cause health problems (of course) in humans.
It’s also possible the aerosols cause a mild cooling effect on Earth over time. So, uh, I guess silver lining? /s
This. There’s plenty of things to be pissed at Musk about, and plenty of reasons to be concerned about orbital garbage. We don’t need sensationalized headlines undermining that.
