In rare space mishap, Musk's Starlink loses contact with satellite in orbit

SpaceX says a Starlink satellite suffered an in-orbit anomaly, lost communications and vented propellant, releasing debris as it dropped altitude; it will re-enter within weeks

A Starlink satellite experienced a rare in-orbit anomaly earlier this week, which led to a limited release of debris and a loss of communication with the spacecraft, SpaceX said.

 

What happened during the Starlink satellite anomaly?

 

In a post on X shared on Wednesday, Starlink said the incident involved one of its satellites operating at an altitude of about 418 km and described it as a rare kinetic event for the satellite internet network.

 

“On December 17, Starlink experienced an anomaly on satellite 35956, resulting in loss of communications with the vehicle at 418 km,” the company said, adding that the issue triggered venting from the propulsion tank and caused a rapid drop in altitude of around four kilometres.

Did the anomaly create debris in orbit?

 

SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, said the anomaly led to “the release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects”, confirming that debris had been generated in space.

 

However, it stressed that the satellite itself remained largely intact.

 

“The satellite is largely intact, tumbling, and will re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise within weeks,” Starlink said.

 

It added that the satellite’s trajectory would place it below the orbit of the International Space Station, “posing no risk to the orbiting lab or its crew.”

 

Who is tracking the debris, and what did LeoLabs find?

 

The company said it was coordinating with the US Space Force and NASA to monitor the debris and assess any potential risks to other spacecraft. SpaceX did not specify how many debris fragments were released.

 

According to a Reuters report, space-tracking firm LeoLabs detected “tens” of objects that were likely fragments from the incident and said more pieces could be identified as analysis continued.

 

The firm indicated that the sudden drop in altitude suggested an internal malfunction rather than a collision with another object in orbit.

 

The space-tracking arm of the US Space Force did not immediately comment on the number of debris pieces or their potential impact on other active satellites, the report said.

 

How does this compare with past satellite break-ups?

 

Despite the debris release, the event appeared smaller in scale than past orbital break-ups, such as an Intelsat satellite failure that generated more than 700 fragments, or the break-up of a Chinese rocket body last year, Reuters noted.

 

SpaceX stressed its focus on orbital safety, saying, “As the world’s largest satellite constellation operator, we are deeply committed to space safety. We take these events seriously.”

 

The company added that engineers were working to identify the root cause of the anomaly and were already deploying software updates to prevent similar incidents.

 

The episode comes amid growing concern within the global space community over congestion in Earth’s orbit, as thousands of satellites are launched for broadband, communications and Earth observation services.