In its regulatory filing to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), SpaceX confirmed it intentionally decommissioned and deorbited 260 Starlink satellites between December 1, 2025, and May 31, 2026. This proactive disposal rate reflects ongoing constellation maintenance as older hardware reaches the end of its typical five-year lifespan and is replaced by newer technology.
Operational Details and Environmental Safety
- Controlled Deorbits: Rather than allowing the satellites to decay passively from their Low Earth Orbit (LEO), all 260 spacecraft executed automated, propulsive descents utilizing onboard krypton or argon-fed Hall-effect thrusters. This lowered their perigee directly into dense atmospheric bands, guaranteeing a controlled re-entry and complete thermal burn-up.
- Space Sustainability: This high-volume disposal sequence ensures that non-operational kinetic debris is prevented from accumulating in high-density orbital shells.
- Prior Activity: The 260 figure represents a slight increase over the 218 satellites SpaceX deorbited in the preceding six-month period (June through November 2025), but falls well below the record 472 satellites disposed of between December 2024 and May 2025 during the peak mass retirement of older Generation 1 satellites.
- Constellation Status: Despite the frequent retirements, the overall network’s capacity remains unaffected. SpaceX maintains high production and launch cadences, operating a massive constellation of over 10,000 active satellites in orbit.
