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100% of the Starlink satellites burn up during re-entry. End-of-life satellites are intentionally deorbited. Failed satellites are in such a low orbit that they
by LeoPanthera 5y ago
100% of the Starlink satellites burn up during re-entry. End-of-life satellites are intentionally deorbited. Failed satellites are in such a low orbit that they will self-deorbit after 5 years due to atmospheric drag without their orbit being boosted.
- jvzr 5y agoThere was concern at one point that the laser component of Starlink woulldn't burn up during atmospheric reentry. I don't think many (if any) satellites currently in orbit have that laser module (which will be used for satellite-to-satellite communication, and IIRC better latency by removing a necessary ground round-trip when the satellite leaves radio "line of sight" with your antenna; I don't have the correct terminology). I don't know either if that's been fixed
- LeoPanthera 5y agoAt the moment, only satellites in a polar orbit have the laser module installed, which I believe is a grand total of 13 right now.