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--- transportation:satellites [2026/01/03 21:12] – [Leak] timb
+++ transportation:satellites [2026/01/03 21:47] (current) – [Orbit] timb
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 https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/02/starlink_lower_orbits/
+==  SpaceX Lowering Orbits of 4,400 Starlink Satellites for Safety's Sake ==
+Posted by EditorDavid on Saturday January 03, 2026 12:45PM
+"Starlink is beginning a significant reconfiguration of its satellite constellation focused on increasing space safety," announced Michael Nicolls, Starlink's vice president of engineering:
+<blockquote>
+"We are lowering all Starlink satellites orbiting at ~550 km to ~480 km (~4400 satellites) over the course of 2026. The shell lowering is being tightly coordinated with other operators, regulators, and USSPACECOM. Lowering the satellites results in condensing Starlink orbits, and will increase space safety in several ways... Starlink satellites have extremely high reliability, with only 2 dead satellites in its fleet of over 9000 operational satellites. Nevertheless, if a satellite does fail on orbit, we want it to deorbit as quickly as possible. These actions will further improve the safety of the constellation, particularly with difficult to control risks such as uncoordinated maneuvers and launches by other satellite operators.
+</blockquote>
+https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/01/03/075205/spacex-lowering-orbits-of-4400-starlink-satellites-for-safetys-sake