SpaceX Will Move Thousands of Starlinks Closer to Earth in 2026. Here’s Why
The reconfiguration will reduce the orbital altitude of nearly half of the Starlink megaconstellation.
Earth’s orbit is getting overcrowded, increasing the risk of satellite collisions that could disrupt vital services, create dangerous debris clouds, and—in some cases—send chunks of wreckage careening through the atmosphere. To address this problem, the operator of the largest megaconstellation in the world is going to move thousands of its satellites closer to the ground.
On New Year’s Day, Michael Nicolls, vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, announced that the company will lower all Starlink satellites orbiting 342 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth to an altitude of 298 miles (480 km). The reconfiguration will shift roughly 4,400 satellites and will be carried out over the course of 2026, he said.
At first, this solution may seem counterintuitive. How will shifting this highly volatile, concentrated fleet of fast-moving orbital objects closer to our planet improve safety? you might ask. Nicolls said the reconfiguration will do so in several ways.
Starlink is beginning a significant reconfiguration of its satellite constellation focused on increasing space safety. 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…
— Michael Nicolls (@michaelnicollsx) January 1, 2026
The danger of an overcrowded orbit
More than 9,000 of Earth’s 14,300 active satellites are Starlinks, according to Jonathan McDowell, a retired astrophysicist who tracks objects in low-Earth orbit. SpaceX hopes that number will eventually grow to 42,000 Starlinks. With other companies and institutions launching satellites of their own, we’re quickly running out of orbital real estate.
Experts warn that the consequences of overcrowding LEO could be dire. A recent study found that satellites—especially Starlinks—are constantly maneuvering to avoid collisions. If they suddenly lost their ability to do so, this could lead to a catastrophic crash within just 2.8 days, the researchers concluded.
Such a collision could generate enough debris to cause more collisions and potentially initiate the first stage of Kessler syndrome. In this theoretical scenario, LEO becomes so congested that collisions between objects trigger a chain reaction, producing exponentially more debris. This would debilitate the satellite networks we depend on and make it impossible to launch certain space missions.