this post was submitted on 28 May 2025
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[–] TheVelvetGentleman@hexbear.net 32 points 1 week ago (9 children)

The headline is pretty misleading. The solar maximimum lowers their time in orbit by up to ten days. The article also mentions that this is beneficial to SpaceX as it means the end of life satellites will re-enter faster, getting them out of the way for their replacements.

[–] WrongOnTheInternet@hexbear.net 19 points 1 week ago (1 children)

this is beneficial to SpaceX as it means the end of life satellites will re-enter faster, getting them out of the way for their replacements

They can deorbit them at any time though?

[–] TheVelvetGentleman@hexbear.net 5 points 1 week ago (2 children)

As far as I'm aware, yes. Maybe the article meant they could use less fuel to do so?

[–] supafuzz@hexbear.net 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

any fuel is... already in space, it's not like they're getting it back if they don't use it

I just looked it up, and yes they deorbit the satellites, but their re-entry orbit takes up to six months. So speeding that up does seem advantageous.

I reread the article, I reckon it's about satellites in general deorbiting faster to avoid a Kessler syndrome scenario

Sean Elvidge at the University of Birmingham, UK, says this effect could benefit satellite operators like SpaceX by removing dead satellites from orbit more quickly that could otherwise pose a danger to other satellites. “It’s speeding up that process,” he says. However, it could limit our ability to operate satellites in orbits below 400 kilometres, known as very low Earth orbit. “It shows that could be challenging,” he says.

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