How Starlink Satellites Are Designed to Burn Up Safely in Reentry

SpaceX’s Starlink satellite network, which delivers high-speed, low-latency internet worldwide, is undergoing a large-scale deorbiting process to safely remove older satellites from orbit. This effort is part of Starlink’s commitment to space safety and sustainability, ensuring satellites burn up completely upon reentry into Earth’s atmosphere, leaving no hazardous debris.

Why Is Starlink Deorbiting Satellites?

In 2024, SpaceX began proactively removing early V1 Starlink satellites, some of which had been in orbit for over five years. The company identified a potential hardware issue in a small subset of these satellites, which could increase the risk of failures over time. To prevent this, Starlink chose to deorbit them before any problems occurred.

Unlike uncontrolled reentries, which let satellites fall naturally over time, Starlink guides its satellites back down using a method called controlled, propulsive deorbiting. This allows satellites to maintain control and avoid collisions with other spacecraft while descending.

By the end of 2025, SpaceX expects to have zero failed satellites left in orbit, reducing the risk of space debris and ensuring the long-term sustainability of its satellite network.

How Starlink Ensures Safe Reentry

To minimize risks, Starlink follows a “belt-and-suspenders” approach—meaning they take extra precautions beyond what is required:

• Targeted Reentry – Satellites are guided to break up over the open ocean, avoiding populated areas, airline flight paths, and shipping routes.
• Aerodynamic Drag Control – Instead of using propulsion, Starlink satellites adjust their solar panels to increase drag and guide themselves into the atmosphere in a controlled manner.
• Testing & Modeling – SpaceX runs plasma chamber experiments to simulate extreme heat conditions during reentry, ensuring materials burn up as expected.

What Happened in Saskatchewan?

On August 20, 2024, a 2.5 kg (5.5 lbs) piece of aluminum was found on a farm in Saskatchewan, Canada. SpaceX engineers confirmed that the debris came from a Starlink direct-to-cell satellite that had reentered after a Falcon 9 rocket issue.

This was the first known case of a Starlink satellite fragment surviving reentry and reaching the ground. The part—a modem enclosure lid—was supposed to burn up completely, based on models used by NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA).

After investigating, SpaceX determined that current debris prediction tools were inaccurate, especially for components still attached to a satellite before breaking apart. In response, Starlink has updated its demisability models and is refining satellite designs to further reduce the chances of debris surviving reentry.

How Safe Is Starlink’s Deorbiting Process?

To measure risk to humans, the U.S. government uses a safety standard that requires the chance of injury from falling debris to be less than 1 in 10,000. Starlink far exceeds this requirement, with its latest V2 Mini satellites reducing the risk to less than 1 in 100 million.

The main component that could survive reentry is silicon from solar panels, which may break into tiny fragments with very low impact energy. To further improve safety, SpaceX is making hardware adjustments—such as limiting the size of high-melting-point components like ferrite transformers.

What’s Next for Starlink?

Starlink continues to expand its satellite network, providing global broadband access while ensuring responsible satellite disposal. The company plans to:

• Improve satellite design to ensure even smaller fragments survive reentry.
• Share updated modeling data with NASA, ESA, and other satellite operators.
• Develop better tracking systems to predict safe reentry zones more accurately.

With over 6,750 satellites in orbit, Starlink is setting a new industry standard for how mega-constellations should be responsibly managed in space.