WTF
TEN THOUSAND STARLINKS: On March 16th, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 25 Starlink satellites. It was a routine launch for SpaceX, the 33rd of 2026. But those 25 Starlinks crossed a milestone. For the first time in history, more than 10,000 Starlink satellites were simultaneously circling Earth.
Click to view of dynamic plot of Low-Earth Orbit from Heavens Above
Consider where we started: When SpaceX launched its first operational Starlinks in May 2019, there were roughly 2,000 active satellites of all kinds orbiting Earth. Starlink alone now outnumbers the entire pre-2019 fleet five to one. The constellation has utterly transformed the orbital environment.
The numbers are sobering. Since 2019, more than 11,596 Starlinks have been launched. Of those, more than 1,500 have already reentered the atmosphere as SpaceX retires older satellites to make room for newer models. Each re-entry deposits about 30 kg of aluminum oxide into the upper atmosphere--an uncontrolled chemistry experiment on a planetary scale.
