Problems with technology

Elon Musk lets 100 Starlink satellites burn up

Elon Musk's company SpaceX recently announced that it would be launching 100 Starlink satellites in a controlled manner.

(Bild: Photocreo Bednarek - stock.adobe)

Because around 100 first-generation Starlink satellites are in danger of failing due to what is described as a "common problem", the satellite network operated by Elon Musk's company SpaceX recently announced that it would be crashing them in a controlled manner.

In the coming weeks and months, the satellites in question that are capable of maneuvering will be guided out of their current orbit and slowly towards Earth, where they will burn up in the atmosphere. This maneuver will take around six months in most cases, SpaceX recently announced in a detailed statement.

"Proactively cleaning up space"
The satellites would be able to independently avoid collisions with other satellites. This measure is "a proactive clean-up of space", SpaceX emphasizes. This is because unmaneuverable satellites are practically space debris and this should be reduced as much as possible.

Starlink also explained that 406 other satellites of the almost 6000 satellites launched to date had already been decommissioned. Although 17 of these are no longer maneuverable, they are being closely monitored in order to reduce the risk of collision with other satellites. The remaining satellites were steered out of their orbits and burned up in the atmosphere in a controlled manner, it is said.

SpaceX plans to place a further 42,000 active Starlink satellites - which are operated in low Earth orbit at an altitude of less than 600 kilometers - in space. However, despite the technical problems, the operation of the satellite internet will not be affected for users, the company assures.

Data is transmitted in the microwave range
The Starlink satellites transmit data in the same way as WLAN or mobile communications using wavelengths in the microwave range. The service is owned by SpaceX, the space company run by tech billionaire Musk. The major advantage of Starlink is that access to the network is independent of the conventional telecommunications infrastructure.