[Robotbeat]

Starlink satellites can likely have their life extended by quite a bit, like past constellation satellites did. But it doesn’t really matter as SpaceX is still upgrading capability like crazy. Starship will mean a factor of 10-100x Starlink capacity expansion.

[sethops1]

They most certainly cannot - LEO satellites literally fall out of the sky after about 5 years; they talk about this in the S-1.

[Robotbeat]

It’s a function of altitude. They keep pushing the altitude lower. This is not the only option, although it has a lot of advantages.