Long exposure photo depicting satellites in the night sky of the Northern Hemisphere Credit: Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group (via Getty Images)
A recent report submitted by SpaceX to the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) revealed intriguing insights about the Starlink satellite network. Notably, the report states that Starlink satellites executed approximately 300,000 collision avoidance maneuvers in 2025.
Starlink, a substantial constellation of satellites, provides internet service worldwide. Since the launch of the first Starlink satellite in 2019, the fleet has expanded to around 9,400 satellites, constituting 65 percent of all operational satellites in Earth’s orbit.
Due to the potential hazards posed by satellite collisions, such as generating debris and making certain orbital paths unusable, the FCC mandates that SpaceX provides biannual updates on Starlink’s safety protocols.
In its latest report, dated December 31, SpaceX disclosed that its Starlink satellites carried out around 149,000 collision avoidance maneuvers from June to November 2025. These maneuvers are essential when two satellites are deemed to be in close proximity and at risk of colliding.
The industry standard allows for operation with a collision risk of 1 in 10,000; however, SpaceX adopts a more cautious approach, allowing only a risk of 3 in 10,000,000.
This surge in maneuvers follows SpaceX’s earlier report of 144,000 maneuvers conducted between December 2024 and May 2025. With this, SpaceX aims to complete around 300,000 maneuvers in 2025, marking a significant increase of about 50% from 200,000 maneuvers in 2024. “It’s an enormous amount of maneuvering,” says Hugh Lewis, a researcher at the University of Birmingham in the UK. “This is an exceptionally high figure.”
While most other satellite operators worldwide refrain from publicizing their maneuver data, traditional satellites typically perform only a few maneuvers a year. SpaceX reports that each of its satellites may execute up to 40 maneuvers annually.
Lewis also mentioned that the company intends to increase maneuvers to one million each year by 2027. As several other mega-constellations from the US and China are being deployed, the likelihood of collisions will rise. “From a physics standpoint, that’s not ideal,” Lewis warns. “We are heading toward a concerning scenario in orbit. This situation is unsustainable.”
Additionally, SpaceX revealed in its report that it had numerous close encounters with other satellites, citing a Chinese satellite named Honghu 2, which has approached Starlink satellites over 1,000 times, likely due to overlapping operational orbits.
“This demonstrates how SpaceX effectively dominates that orbital space,” asserts Samantha Lawler from the University of Regina, Canada. Most Starlink satellites orbit at altitudes between 340 and 570 kilometers. “According to the Outer Space Treaty, all nations have access to every part of space, and they are effectively occupying those areas.”
Furthermore, SpaceX provided details about a Starlink satellite that exploded in December, creating dozens of debris pieces. The explosion was attributed to “suspected hardware failure,” and the malfunctioning component has been “identified and removed” from future designs.
Starlink employs autonomous systems to navigate collisions and manage the extensive number of maneuvers needed. However, SpaceX mentioned that one incident involved a spacecraft from Japan’s Astroscale that “performed an unannounced maneuver” potentially increasing the collision risk with a Starlink satellite.
Astroscale disputes this account, stating that the maneuver was publicly announced and executed in compliance with Japan’s orbit maintenance guidelines. SpaceX did not respond to media inquiries regarding the situation.
However, the most noteworthy statistic remains the total number of maneuvers conducted. “They are conducting operations efficiently and effectively,” Lawler comments. “But if they make an error, we could face significant consequences.”
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Source: www.newscientist.com
