{"id":240037,"date":"2025-12-18T23:10:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-18T23:10:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/240037\/"},"modified":"2025-12-18T23:10:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-18T23:10:07","slug":"spacex-loses-contact-with-starlink-satellite-after-mishap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/240037\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX loses contact with Starlink satellite after mishap"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul data-testid=\"Summary\" class=\"summary-module__summary__QjADA\">\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Starlink satellite suffers minor explosion in orbit<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">&#8216;Tens&#8217; of debris pieces created, space-tracking firm says<\/li>\n<li data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf summary-module__point__UgXPz\">Soaring space activity spurs calls for global coordination<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Dec 18 (Reuters) &#8211; SpaceX&#8217;s Starlink said one of its satellites experienced an anomaly in space on Wednesday that created a &#8220;small number&#8221; of debris and cut off communications with the spacecraft at 418 km (259.73 miles) in altitude, a rare kinetic accident in orbit for the satellite internet giant.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The satellite is largely intact, tumbling, and will reenter the Earth&#8217;s atmosphere and fully demise within weeks,&#8221; Starlink said in a post on X.<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"promo-box\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__promo-box__hVl8h\"> Sign up  <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/science\/starlink-says-it-has-lost-communication-with-one-its-satellites-2025-12-18\/undefined?location=article-paragraph&amp;redirectUrl=%2Fscience%2Fstarlink-says-it-has-lost-communication-with-one-its-satellites-2025-12-18%2F\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">here.<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The company said the satellite, one of nearly 10,000 in space for its broadband internet network, quickly fell four kilometers in altitude, suggesting some kind of explosion occurred on board.<\/p>\n<p>It was working with the U.S. Space Force and NASA to monitor the debris pieces, the number of which SpaceX did not say in its statement.<\/p>\n<p>Space-tracking company LeoLabs said it detected &#8220;tens&#8221; of what were likely pieces of debris from the mishap and that additional fragments could be detected as it continues to analyze the event.<\/p>\n<p>LeoLabs added the swift drop in altitude likely showed the mishap was caused by an internal problem rather than a collision with another object in space.<\/p>\n<p>Space Force&#8217;s space-tracking unit did not immediately return a request for comment on the number of debris pieces, which could pose risks for other active satellites in orbit.<\/p>\n<p>But with the Starlink satellite still somewhat intact after shedding a relatively small field of debris, the event seemed smaller in scale than other orbital mishaps such as the breakup of an Intelsat satellite that created more than 700 pieces, or the breakup of a <a data-testid=\"Link\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/technology\/space\/chinese-rockets-breakup-puts-over-1000-satellites-other-objects-risk-2024-08-09\/\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__inherit-color__PhuPF text-module__inherit-font__1P1hv text-module__inherit-size__EyiQW link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Chinese rocket body<\/a> last year.SOARING SPACE ACTIVITY<\/p>\n<p>The number of spacecraft in Earth&#8217;s orbit has jumped sharply in recent years as companies and countries race to deploy tens of thousands of satellites for internet constellations and other space-based services such as communications and Earth imagery.<\/p>\n<p>Many space policy officials and industry executives worldwide have advocated for clearer international traffic rules in orbit to better coordinate evasive satellite maneuvers and satellite deployments among space-faring nations, most prominently the U.S. and China.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, SpaceX&#8217;s vice president of Starlink engineering, Michael Nicolls, said on X that a spacecraft from a recently launched Chinese mission came within 200 meters of a Starlink satellite, a dangerously close approach that satellite operators often attempt to avoid.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;As far as we know, no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed,&#8221; Nicolls said. &#8220;Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators &#8211; this needs to change.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"SignOff\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__full_width__kCIGb body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 sign-off-module__text__LQAMP\">Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Kirsten Donovan and Nick Zieminski<\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__small__sph8i body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__small_body__gOmDf article-body-module__element__5eCce article-body-module__trust-badge__5mS3f\">Our Standards: <a data-testid=\"Link\" target=\"_blank\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" href=\"https:\/\/www.thomsonreuters.com\/en\/about-us\/trust-principles.html\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__medium__2Rl30 text-module__small__sph8i link-module__link__INqxZ link-module__underline_default__-okuC link-module__with-icon__qlg76\">The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.reutersagency.com\/en\/licensereuterscontent\/?utm_medium=rcom-article-media&amp;utm_campaign=rcom-rcp-lead\" target=\"_blank\" dir=\"ltr\" class=\"button-module__link__A3sD0 button-module__secondary__70gBu button-module__round__QDFgq button-module__w_auto__Sem-F\" data-testid=\"LicenceContentButton\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Purchase Licensing Rights<\/a><a data-testid=\"AuthorBioImageLink\" class=\"author-bio-module__author-image__jcaG3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/authors\/joey-roulette\/\" referrerpolicy=\"no-referrer-when-downgrade\" tabindex=\"-1\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p data-testid=\"Body\" class=\"text-module__text__0GDob text-module__dark-grey__UFC18 text-module__regular__qJJtA text-module__extra_small__8Buss body-module__base__o--Cl body-module__extra_small_body__Bfz20 author-bio-module__description__9ynkB\">Joey Roulette is a space reporter for Reuters covering the business and politics of the global space industry, often focusing on space power competition and how commercial interests intersect with international relations. He was part of a team that won the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in national reporting for Reuters&#8217; coverage of Elon Musk&#8217;s business empire. On the space beat for roughly a decade, Joey previously worked for the New York Times, the Verge, and various publications in Florida.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Starlink satellite suffers minor explosion in orbit &#8216;Tens&#8217; of debris pieces created, space-tracking firm says Soaring space activity&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":240038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[270],"tags":[82495,82496,82497,82519,84105,82500,82995,82530,82531,83787,82529,18,45748,19,82504,82505,17,82524,83788,83810,17588,82512,133,451,82965,82968,82513,753,82999,30150,82534,82533,107],"class_list":{"0":"post-240037","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-aer","9":"tag-aero","10":"tag-aero1","11":"tag-amers","12":"tag-blr","13":"tag-cmpny","14":"tag-coms","15":"tag-destocabsm","16":"tag-destousbsm","17":"tag-destousscm","18":"tag-destoustcm","19":"tag-eire","20":"tag-gen","21":"tag-ie","22":"tag-indg","23":"tag-inds","24":"tag-ireland","25":"tag-namer","26":"tag-packageus-science","27":"tag-privt","28":"tag-satcom","29":"tag-sci","30":"tag-science","31":"tag-space","32":"tag-spacem","33":"tag-spc","34":"tag-spex","35":"tag-tech","36":"tag-teeq","37":"tag-tmt","38":"tag-topcmb","39":"tag-topnws","40":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115743098385491028","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/240038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}