Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX reported that the number of Starlink satellites deorbited at the end of 2025 had decreased significantly, from around 500 to around 200.
This massive decline in de-orbited Starlink satellites was highlighted in the company’s latest semi-annual report submitted to the FCC, indicating the successful retirement of many older Starlink satellites.
Typically, a Starlink satellite has a lifespan of five years before being de-orbited, during which time it is designed to burn up completely upon re-entry into the atmosphere.
It should be noted that Starlink satellites can also be retired prematurely due to malfunctions or hardware defects.
The Starlink constellation, which includes more than 10,000 satellites, has seen an increase in the number of satellites in the last year, with SpaceX deorbiting as many as four to five satellites per day, said astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
From December 2024 to May 2025, SpaceX deorbited 472 satellites, but that number dropped to just 218 from June to November.
Most of the 167 deorbited satellites belonged to the first-generation Starlink constellation, which began serving customers more than five years ago. The rest came from the second generation constellation.
McDowell confirmed that SpaceX has “largely completed the mass retirement of older satellites,” although the re-entry rate remains high compared to 2023, reflecting SpaceX’s efforts to manage its expanding satellite fleet.
