--- title: "SpaceX Found a Way To Keep Its Satellites From Cluttering Up Space" description: "According to recent FCC filings, SpaceX is planning on orbiting more than 1,500 Starlink satellites at almost half the altitude to keep them safe." date: "2018-11-09" modified: "2018-11-09" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/spacex-starlink-satellites-space-debris" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "communication satellite" - "elon musk" - "satellites" - "SpaceX" - "starlink" - "the digest" --- # SpaceX Found a Way To Keep Its Satellites From Cluttering Up Space ![According to recent FCC filings, SpaceX is planning on orbiting more than 1,500 Starlink satellites at almost half the altitude to keep them safe.]() *\Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Space Junk Earth's orbit is chock full of junk, from pieces of smashed satellites to tools lost during spacewalks. NASA is currently tracking more than [half a million]() pieces of space debris, many of which are traveling fast enough to do some serious damage to spacecraft. Over 20,000 of them are [larger than a softball](). SpaceX's Starlink project — the launch of close to [12,000 communication satellites]() to bring internet broadband to the entire planet — seems likely to contribute to that problem. ## Flying Low But the *Verge* [reports that]() SpaceX might have a solution: fly more than 1,500 Starlink satellites at half the originally planned altitude of 1,110 km (690 miles). In a [filing to the FCC](), SpaceX argues that the advantages are twofold. First, its satellites will be orbiting out of the harm of the majority of existing space debris. Second, orbiting at 550 km (342 miles) will make the satellites far easier to retire once their days are up — and according to NASA, that will happen on average [after only five years in orbit](). At that altitude, the Earth's atmosphere will dispose of SpaceX's trash automatically by slowly pushing the satellites out of orbit. ## Space Trash Disposal It's great that SpaceX is thinking of the consequences of adding to an already significant space junk problem ahead of time. Sending up satellites only to have them be obliterated by existing space debris is bad news for everybody — especially if you're staying on the International Space Station. READ MORE: [SpaceX wants to fly some internet satellites closer to Earth to cut down on space trash]() \[*The Verge*\] Read More: [Elon Musk’s Falcon 9 Just Launched the First of 11,925 SpaceX Internet Satellites]() ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()