SpaceX, the aerospace giant owned by Elon Musk, confirmed on Thursday (December 18) that its 35,956th satellite in the “Starlink” satellite network had a rare incident in low Earth orbit, causing complete communication interruption and releasing a small amount of space debris.
The social media platform X posted a statement from “Starlink” stating: “This satellite is largely intact and is currently tumbling, expected to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and burn up completely in a few weeks.”
The communication interruption in “Starlink” was attributed to an “abnormal condition.”
SpaceX released a statement through the X social platform, indicating that the accident on Wednesday occurred at an altitude of 418 kilometers (approximately 260 miles). The anomaly caused a leak in the satellite’s propulsion tank, leading to a rapid decay of the orbital radius (semi-major axis) by about 4 kilometers in a short period of time, cutting off all communication between the ground and the spacecraft.
The company emphasized that the malfunctioning satellite’s current trajectory is below the International Space Station (ISS) and poses no threat to the space station or its resident astronauts.
The incident released a “small amount” of trackable low-speed objects. SpaceX is closely collaborating with the U.S. Space Force and NASA to monitor these debris pieces that could pose risks to other operational satellites.
SpaceX stated that engineers are quickly identifying the root cause of the anomaly and have begun deploying software updates to their spacecraft to enhance protective measures against such incidents.
The company stressed, “As the world’s largest satellite constellation operator, we are deeply committed to space safety. We take incidents like this seriously.”
According to Reuters, compared to two major orbital accidents in 2024, this incident is considered a smaller “minor accident.” Previously, a satellite from the International Telecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat) disintegrated, creating over 700 fragments.
In contrast, China’s “Long March 6A” carrier rocket exploded at a height of about 800 kilometers after deploying the “Qiansailixing” (G60 satellite) constellation in August last year, generating over 700 traceable large fragments and tens of thousands of small fragments. Due to the higher altitude of this incident, the debris is expected to remain in orbit for several decades.
By the closing on Thursday, the market was closely monitoring whether such rare “orbital kinetic energy accidents” would affect SpaceX’s future launch density or regulatory environment.
As of December 2025, SpaceX has launched over 10,000 “Starlink” satellites, accounting for over 70% of active satellites in orbit worldwide. The company plans to expand the total number of satellites to 12,000 and even reach a long-term goal of 42,000 satellites in the future.