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by ryukoposting 815 days ago
They added the sun shields in mid-2020, after several hundred satellites had already been launched. Those remain visible, and make up about 8% of their fleet today.

Kinda makes me wonder what we're going to do about all these satellites in 50-60 years when there's thousands of decommissioned ones floating around.
2 comments
cruffle_duffle 815 days ago
They deorbit themselves after about 5 years... so if starlink goes tits up, at worst you'll see the satellites for around 5 years. Sooner if they are intentionally deorbited.
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1123581321 815 days ago
They’re easy to knock out of orbit and auto decay because of the light atmospheric drag. Shouldn’t be a problem.

Higher orbit debris could last a lot longer.

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