Starlink Satellite Reconfiguration Plans

Starlink has officially announced plans to reconfigure its satellite constellation by 2026. According to Michael Nicolls, Starlink engineering vice president at SpaceX, all current Starlink satellites orbiting at 550 kilometers above Earth will be lowered to 480 kilometers.

Why is this being done?
The main goal of this step is to enhance space safety, they say.
Nicolls explains that there is less debris in orbits below 500 km and that new satellite constellations are mostly deployed at higher orbits.
Therefore, the risk of collisions will be significantly reduced.

In December 2025, Starlink revealed that one of its satellites experienced a space anomaly.
The satellite lost communication at an altitude of 418 km, generated a small amount of debris, and quickly dropped about 4 kilometers in altitude. According to SpaceX, this may have been caused by an internal malfunction or a small explosion within the satellite. This incident is considered extremely rare for a large-scale satellite network like Starlink.

Where is Starlink today?
Starlink currently has nearly 10,000 satellites deployed in Earth’s orbit. SpaceX has become the world’s largest satellite operator through Starlink, providing services worldwide including:
1. Consumer broadband internet
2. Government services
3. Business connectivity
4. Internet access in remote areas.

According to space experts, lowering the orbit to 480 km offers several benefits:
If a satellite malfunctions, it will burn up quickly due to natural atmospheric drag, minimizing long-term space debris.
This also facilitates future space traffic management (STM). In recent years, with thousands of satellites launched by companies like SpaceX, Amazon (Project Kuiper), and China-backed constellations, global attention has increased on Earth orbit congestion.