A SpaceX Starlink internet satellite is plunging back toward Earth after suffering a serious malfunction that caused its propulsion system to rupture, the company confirmed Thursday.
The anomaly occurred on Wednesday, December 17, when satellite 35956 experienced a loss of communications while operating at 418 kilometers altitude. The malfunction led to venting of the propulsion tank, a rapid decay in semi major axis by about four kilometers, and the release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects. SpaceX is coordinating with the United States Space Force and NASA to monitor the objects.
The company stated the satellite is largely intact but tumbling, and will reenter the atmosphere and fully demise within weeks. The satellite’s current trajectory will place it below the International Space Station, posing no risk to the orbiting lab or its crew, Starlink representatives wrote in a post on X. The description suggests the propulsion tank may have ruptured or suffered structural damage.
SpaceX emphasized its commitment to space safety and said the incident is under investigation. According to a company statement, engineers are rapidly working to root cause and mitigate the source of the anomaly and are already deploying software to vehicles that increases protections against this type of event. As the world’s largest satellite constellation operator, the company said it takes these events seriously.
The Starlink megaconstellation currently consists of nearly 9,300 active satellites, meaning SpaceX operates about 65 percent of all functional spacecraft zipping around the planet. The constellation continues expanding rapidly. SpaceX has launched 122 Starlink missions this year alone, sending more than 3,000 satellites to low Earth orbit.
Each Starlink satellite has an expected operational lifespan of about five years, after which SpaceX intentionally deorbits the spacecraft to prevent accumulation of space debris. The company has invested heavily in autonomous collision avoidance systems that allow satellites to maneuver without human intervention.
In the first six months of 2025, Starlink satellites conducted about 145,000 evasive actions, an average of about four per spacecraft per month. The autonomous system uses tracking data to predict potential collisions and directs satellites to adjust their orbits accordingly.
However, SpaceX has warned that not all satellite operators apply the same level of coordination and responsibility. Last week, a satellite recently deployed by a Chinese rocket gave a Starlink spacecraft a close shave, apparently without providing proper warning ahead of time. The incident involved one of nine satellites launched on a Kinetica 1 rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center on December 9.
Michael Nicolls, vice president of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, disclosed that the Chinese satellite passed within 200 meters of Starlink 6079 at 560 kilometers altitude. He said no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed. Nicolls added that most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators, stating this needs to change.
CAS Space, the Chinese company operating the Kinetica 1 rocket, responded saying it selects launch windows using ground based space awareness systems to avoid collisions with known satellites and debris. The company said it would investigate the incident and coordinate with satellite operators.
The current satellite failure stands out because individual spacecraft losses remain uncommon despite the massive scale of the Starlink constellation. Past incidents include a 2022 geomagnetic storm that increased atmospheric density, resulting in loss of dozens of newly launched satellites. In 2024, a Falcon 9 upper stage issue left multiple satellites stranded in decaying orbits.
As solar activity continues rising during Solar Cycle 25, atmospheric drag events are expected to become more frequent at lower altitudes like 418 kilometers. The increased drag from solar storms heats Earth’s upper atmosphere, causing it to expand and creating resistance that slows satellites and causes orbital decay.
The incident highlights growing challenges of managing massive satellite fleets in low Earth orbit. Experts have raised concerns about Kessler syndrome, a scenario where collisions between space debris trigger a chain reaction of further collisions that could make certain orbits unusable. SpaceX maintains that network redundancy ensures no impact on customer service despite individual satellite losses.
