In a recently published YouTube video, Ellie in Space interviews Harvard astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, who has been tracking every single Starlink satellite launched to date.
McDowell has been tracking satellites for almost 50 years. Since the 1970s, the astronomer has collected data from institutions like the U.S. Space Force and amateur astronomers, ran it through his own scripts and data processors, and consolidated the results on his website.
Available on McDowell’s website is a complete status table for all of the 1,740 Starlink satellites launched by the time of this writing, including ones that have been disposed of.
During the interview, McDowell gives us a glimpse into his daily workflow, and talks about Starlink 1592 — a Starlink satellite originally launched last year which recently re-entered the atmosphere and burned up upon re-entry.
It looks like Starlink is making strides in a lot more than just internet speeds, as McDowell notes that satellites “launched since about the middle of last year” have remained maneuverable even after failing and going out of commission, which prevents them from simply drifting out of orbit and turning into space debris.
When a Starlink satellite fails, SpaceX is able to steer it out of orbit, eventually bringing it back down to the atmosphere where it burns up completely upon re-entry. Preventing satellites from adding to the space debris problem is also a big reason why SpaceX lowered the constellation’s orbit in the first place.
