SpaceX has now sent 10,000 Starlink satellites into space – Jalopnik

On October 19, a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Vandenberg SFB, delivering Starlink’s 10,000th satellite into orbit. In fact, it provided many satellites, bringing the total number of SpaceX Internet service to 10,006. For reference, while it is difficult to pin down exact figures, the European Space Agency believes there are a total of around 12,500 active satellites currently in orbit.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean there are actually 10,000 small Starlink orbiters in space right now, as Ars Technica notes. Once they reach retirement age, which only takes a few years, they are typically removed from their jobs, meaning they are eventually released back into the atmosphere. Hopefully they burn completely, as designed. However, each satellite re-entry runs the risk of one component remaining intact and crashing back to Earth, a problem that will only worsen as the number of satellites increases. Taking into account the retired, astrophysicist Estimates by Jonathan McDowell that there are currently 8,704 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 8,688 are still functioning.

That’s still a large number of orbiters all from a single service; the Starlink constellation now accounts for two-thirds of all operating satellites. SpaceX’s rapid drive to build out an ever-expanding constellation is filling low Earth orbit in a way never before. On the one hand, this has enabled unprecedented remote access to the Internet, helping everyone sailors on coast guard ships to soldiers in the war in Ukraine (when SpaceX CEO Elon Musk allows it).

On the other hand, the large number of satellites in orbit makes the risk of a collision very high. The US Space Force currently monitors nearly 47,000 objects in space, from functioning and dead satellites to small pieces of debris. Starlink already performs tens of thousands of maneuvers every year to avoid crashing into something. But SpaceX wants tens of thousands of additional satellites in the near future.

Meanwhile, other operators want to start creating their own satellites, from startups to major companies and other countries. At this rate, the space will become very crowded indeed. Any collision poses a risk to all other satellites in orbit (because of the resulting debris field), as well as to us here on the ground, who could be hit by a stray piece. So it is impressive indeed that SpaceX has single-handedly changed the nature of humanity’s presence in orbit, as this 10,000th satellite makes clear. What that change will entail remains to be seen.