With more than 9,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, performing complex orbital maneuvers every day, it was only a matter of time before the first serious incident occurred. SpaceX confirmed that one of the satellites, designated 35956, experienced an “anomaly” during which argon was released from the propulsion system. This made the satellite an uncontrolled object in orbit, practically space debris.
The official announcement said that a “small number of objects with low relative velocity” were released from the satellite, which is the technical description for fragments that could pose a hazard in crowded orbits. However, the biggest concern was his trajectory. SpaceX has said that the satellite is moving below the orbit of the International Space Station and that there is no risk to the ISS or the crew, which seems more like a fortunate circumstance than a result of control.
The failure of satellite 35956 raises the question of safety in the era of massive SpaceX constellations
The satellite will remain completely unusable for the next few weeks, until it gradually descends and burns up in the Earth’s atmosphere. The engineering team is still investigating what caused the malfunction, but the incident coincided with important announcements: the US administration plans to develop a replacement for the ISS by 2030, and SpaceX is seeking permits to launch as many as 15,000 satellites of the new generation: Direct-to-Cell V3.
The new DTC satellites, when fully deployed, are the size of a Boeing 737 passenger plane and are designed to provide a true 5G network in space, with speeds of up to 100 Mbps on standard phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra.
As the number of satellites grows rapidly, experts warn that similar incidents will become more frequent and potentially more risky, especially in lower orbits where traffic is already too heavy, reports Notebookcheck.