Elon Musk’s aerospace company SpaceX has reported that the number of Starlink satellites deorbited by the end of 2025 has decreased substantially, from about 500 to about 200.
This massive drop of deorbiting Starlink satellites was highlighted in the company’s latest semi-annual report filed with the FCC, indicating the successful retirement of many older Starlink satellites.
A Starlink satellite typically has a five-year lifespan before deorbiting, during which it is designed to burn up completely upon re-entering the atmosphere.
It should be noted that Starlink satellites can also be retired early due to malfunctions or hardware failures.
The Starlink constellation, which consists of more than 10,000 satellites, saw an increase in burn-ups last year, with SpaceX deorbiting between four and five satellites daily, said astronomer and satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell.
From December 2024 to May 2025, SpaceX deorbited 472 satellites, but this 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 reentry rate remains high compared to 2023, reflecting SpaceX’s efforts to manage its growing fleet of satellites.
