According to TechSpot, SpaceX Vice President of Starlink Engineering Michael Nicolls announced the company will reconfigure its entire satellite constellation operating at 550 kilometers (342 miles) down to a new orbit of 480 kilometers (298 miles) throughout 2026. This 44-mile lowering comes amid a sharp rise in near-misses, like a recent incident where a Chinese satellite missed a Starlink bird by just 656 feet. The low Earth orbit zone now holds about 13,000 satellites, a nearly four-fold increase from 2020, with SpaceX operating roughly 10,000 of them. Nicolls argues the move will condense Starlink’s orbital paths and increase space safety, as there are fewer planned constellations and debris objects below 500 km. An added benefit is that satellites at this lower altitude will deorbit faster due to atmospheric drag at the end of their life.
The space traffic jam is real
Look, we’ve all seen the headlines about space getting crowded. But this is one of the first major, concrete operational shifts by a mega-constellation operator in direct response to that reality. It’s not just theoretical anymore. When you have a Chinese satellite and a Starlink satellite coming within a couple hundred meters of each other, that’s a real-world “oh crap” moment. And that’s just one we know about. The sheer numbers are staggering: 13,000 satellites up there now versus 3,400 just four years ago. SpaceX alone is responsible for the vast majority of that growth. So, frankly, it’s about time they took a proactive step to manage the chaos they’ve largely created. The move feels less like generosity and more like necessary self-preservation.
Lower is safer, but is it enough?
Nicolls makes two compelling technical points. First, there’s less planned traffic and historical debris below 500 km. Basically, it’s a slightly quieter neighborhood. Second, and maybe more important, the increased atmospheric drag at that altitude acts as a built-in garbage disposal. Dead satellites will spiral down and burn up in a matter of years, not decades. That’s a huge win for long-term orbital sustainability.
But here’s the thing. This only addresses part of the problem. It makes Starlink’s constellation safer and less cluttering in the long run. It doesn’t solve the coordination issue with every other country and company launching stuff. Nicholls himself called for better coordination after that Chinese near-miss. And yet, at the same time, the US Office of Space Commerce is warning that budget cuts could gut the very Traffic Coordination System for Space designed to prevent these collisions. We’re trying to solve a complex, global traffic management problem with unilateral actions and less funding for the air traffic control system. That seems… risky.
A sign of things to come
This is probably the new normal. As more mega-constellations from Amazon, OneWeb, and others come online, operators are going to have to make real-time adjustments to their playbooks. Orbital slots are a finite resource, and safety protocols will have to evolve rapidly. I think we’ll see more of these operational tweaks—altitude changes, adjusted orbital planes, more aggressive end-of-life deorbiting. It’s a fascinating, if slightly terrifying, live experiment in large-scale systems management. The stakes couldn’t be higher; a single major collision could create a debris field that renders entire orbital shells unusable for everyone. SpaceX lowering its satellites is a smart, pragmatic move. But it’s just the first move in a much bigger game where the rules are still being written.
