"SpaceX has been relentlessly hurling Starlink satellites into orbit ever since and just hit a huge milestone that cements this daunting new era. As of today, more than 10,000 active Starlink satellites are in space, constituting about two thirds of all satellites that are currently in orbit. That's a number that would have seemed unbelievable just a decade ago—and a rate of growth that experts are still struggling to comprehend."
"Starlink has changed our relationship with space, says Hugh Lewis, a space debris expert at the University of Birmingham in England. The character of the night sky is no longer the same as it once was, and I'm not sure it will ever be again."
"The company has only now reached that five-figure operational number: it has launched 11,527 Starlink satellites in total since May 2019, but some of these have been replacements for defunct, deorbited spacecraft."
SpaceX launched its first Starlink satellites in 2019, initiating a dramatic transformation of Earth's orbital landscape. The company has now deployed over 10,000 active Starlink satellites, constituting roughly two-thirds of all satellites currently orbiting Earth. This represents an unprecedented acceleration in satellite deployment compared to the previous space age, when only hundreds operated in orbit until the early 2000s, growing to thousands by the 2010s. Space debris experts acknowledge this milestone marks a fundamental shift in humanity's relationship with space, permanently altering the character of the night sky. SpaceX achieved this milestone through relentless launches, including a March 2024 Falcon 9 mission deploying 25 additional satellites.
Read at www.scientificamerican.com
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