Deorbited, Malfunctioning and anomalous Starlinks
[Updated 2021 Jan 20]All altitudes in km. SpaceX have acknowledged ( Doc 1 and Doc 2 ) a number of satellites which have lost manuevering capability. However, they do not provide enough information to tell WHICH specific satellites are being referred to. Here I present my own summary of Starlink orbital behaviour that suggests certain satellites have failed. Summary table:
| Launch | Sats launched | Deorbited | Reentered after fail | Still in orbit | Not manuevering | Deorbit in process? | Working? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Launch 0 (Tintin) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Launch 1 (V0.9) | 60 | 46 | 1 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 |
| Launches 2-8 (V1.0 1-7) | 420 | 7 | 3 | 410 | 10 | 0 | 400 |
| Launches 9-17 (V1.0V 8-16) | 533 | 0 | 4 | 529 | 0 | 1 | 528 |
| Total | 1015 | 55 | 8 | 952 | 17 | 1 | 934 |
Satellites from Launch 1 (V0.9 design)
My analysis based on TLEs and SupTLEs:
Satellites in orbit undergoing uncontrolled orbital decay
Failed satellites often are manuevered to different orbits for a while before beginning steady decay. The dates here are when steady decay began.
The "SPX Fail" column indicates whether SpaceX acknowledge the satellite as inactive as reflected on the SpaceTrack.org `satellite' query class. (Yes = SpaceX say it is dead; Yes (NM) = SpaceX say it is not manuevering, but still alive in other ways; No = SpaceX say it is still active despite my data).
Starlink 48 resumed orbit changes in Nov 2020.
| Sat ID | SSN | Altitude | Fail Date | SPX Fail | Reentry Date | Orbit | Orbit zoom |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink 60 | 44273 | 440 | 2019 May | Yes | 2020 Dec 26 |  |  |
| Starlink 43 | 44257 | 485 | 2019 Jun | No |  |  | |
| Starlink 48 | 44289 | 510 | 2019 Jul | Yes (NM) |  |  | |
| Starlink 80 | 44282 | 500 | 2019 Jul | Yes |  |  | |
| Starlink 24 | 44238 | 530 | 2019 Dec | Yes |  |  | |
| Starlink 64 | 44275 | 455 | 2020 Feb | No |  |  | |
| Starlink 61 | 44249 | 512 | 2020 Feb? | Yes |  |  | |
| Starlink 26 | 44240 | 434 | 2020 Apr? | Yes (NM) |  |  |
Satellites actively deorbited:
Two V0.9 satellites were deorbited early in 2020. They appear to have been test satellites evaluating low altitude operations, rather than failures. More V0.9 satellites were actively deorbited in summer 2020.
| Sat ID | SSN | Altitude | Fail Date | Deorbit date | Orbit vs time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink 46 | 44246 | - | - | 2020 Feb 20 |  |
| Starlink 67 | 44278 | - | - | 2020 May 27 |  |
| Starlink 22 | 44236 | - | - | 2020 Aug 9 |  |
| Starlink 41 | 44277 | - | - | 2020 Aug 9 |  |
| Starlink 66 | 44255 | - | - | 2020 Aug 21 |  |
| Starlink 28 | 44242 | - | - | 2020 Aug 21 |  |
| Starlink 58 | 44270 | - | - | 2020 Aug 23 |  |
| Starlink 62 | 44274 | - | - | 2020 Aug 29 |  |
| Starlink 33 | 44247 | - | - | 2020 Aug 29 |  |
| Starlink 25 | 44239 | - | - | 2020 Sep 1 |  |
| Starlink 23 | 44237 | - | - | 2020 Sep 2 |  |
| Starlink 51 | 44272 | - | - | 2020 Sep 2 |  |
| Starlink 34 | 44248 | - | - | 2020 Sep 2 |  |
| Starlink 45 | 44260 | - | - | 2020 Sep 4 |  |
| Starlink 44 | 44261 | - | - | 2020 Sep 5 |  |
| Starlink 40 | 44258 | - | - | 2020 Sep 5 |  |
| Starlink 38 | 44280 | - | - | 2020 Sep 6 |  |
| Starlink 56 | 44283 | - | - | 2020 Sep 10 |  |
| Starlink 32 | 44254 | - | - | 2020 Sep 12 |  |
| Starlink 54 | 44266 | - | - | 2020 Sep 14 |  |
| Starlink 36 | 44250 | - | - | 2020 Sep 15 |  |
| Starlink 69 | 44267 | - | - | 2020 Sep 16 |  |
| Starlink 42 | 44256 | - | - | 2020 Sep 16 |  |
| Starlink 78 | 44290 | - | - | 2020 Sep 16 |  |
| Starlink 37 | 44251 | - | - | 2020 Sep 16 |  |
| Starlink 35 | 44264 | - | - | 2020 Sep 16 |  |
| Starlink 50 | 44285 | - | - | 2020 Sep 17 |  |
| Starlink 57 | 44269 | - | - | 2020 Sep 17 |  |
| Starlink 39 | 44253 | - | - | 2020 Sep 18 |  |
| Starlink 21 | 44245 | - | - | 2020 Sep 22 |  |
| Starlink 27 | 44241 | - | - | 2020 Sep 26 |  |
| Starlink 53 | 44294 | - | - | 2020 Sep 26 |  |
| Starlink 73 | 44284 | - | - | 2020 Sep 27 |  |
| Starlink 74 | 44293 | - | - | 2020 Sep 29 |  |
| Starlink 49 | 44262 | - | - | 2020 Sep 29 |  |
| Starlink 31 | 44235 | - | - | 2020 Oct 1 |  |
| Starlink 77 | 44291 | - | - | 2020 Oct 2 |  |
| Starlink 79 | 44288 | - | - | 2020 Oct 3 |  |
| Starlink 81 | 44292 | - | - | 2020 Oct 4 |  |
| Starlink 30 | 44244 | - | - | 2020 Oct 13 |  |
| Starlink 63 | 44265 | - | - | 2020 Oct 13 |  |
| Starlink 52 | 44259 | - | - | 2020 Oct 13 |  |
| Starlink 29 | 44243 | - | - | 2020 Oct 13 |  |
| Starlink 59 | 44271 | - | - | 2020 Oct 15 |  |
| Starlink 72 | 44263 | - | - | 2020 Oct 15 |  |
| Starlink 65 | 44276 | - | - | 2020 Oct 21 |  |
-
SpaceX May 15 report to FCC: (all altitudes in km)
Bad Sat No. Altitude Tentative ID 1 527 Starlink 24? 2 455 Starlink 64? 3 529 Starlink 48? 4 400 ? 5 552 ? 6 490 Starlink 80?
Satellites from Launches 2 onwards
My analysis based on TLEs and SupTLEs:
Satellites actively deorbited
| Sat ID | Launch | SSN | Altitude | Fail Date | Deorbit date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink 1220 | 5 | 45211 | - | - | 2020 Feb 28 |  | |
| Starlink 1118 | 3 | 44948 | - | - | 2020 Apr 2 |  | |
| Starlink 1087 | 3 | 44965 | - | - | 2020 May 29 |  | |
| Starlink 1440 | 8 | 45657 | 295 | 2020 Jun 5? | 2020 Jul 14 |  |  |
| Starlink 1157 | 4 | 45055 | 300 | 2020 Jul 3? | 2020 Oct 22? |  |  |
| Starlink 1077 | 3 | 44960 | 550 | 2020 Jul 5? | 2020 Nov 9? |  | |
| Starlink 1158 | 4 | 45056 | 550 | 2020 Oct 1? | 2020 Dec 5 |  | |
| Starlink 1702 | 13 | 46551 | 370 | 2020 Oct 26? | (in process) |  |
Satellites in orbit undergoing uncontrolled orbital decay
Failed satellites often are manuevered to different orbits for a while before beginning steady decay. The dates here are when steady decay began.
| Sat ID | Launch | SSN | Altitude | Fail Date | SPX Fail | Reentry Date | Orbit | Orbit zoom | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink 1040 | 2 | 44745 | 350 | 2019 Dec 15 | Yes | 2020 Sep 3 |  |  | |
| Starlink 1037 | 2 | 44742 | 550 | 2020 Feb 10? | Yes |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1065 | 2 | 44770 | 550 | 2020 Feb 20 | Yes |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1311 | 6 | 45363 | 375 | 2020 Apr 5? | Yes | 2020 Sep 25 |  |  | |
| Starlink 1268 | 6 | 45385 | 380 | 2020 May 5? | Yes (NM) | 2020 Nov 19 |  |  | |
| Starlink 1126 | 3 | 44951 | 549 | 2020 Jun 1 | Yes (NM) |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1353 | 7 | 45537 | 535 | 2020 Jun 9 | Yes (NM) |  | | ||
| Starlink 1110 | 3 | 44946 | 550 | 2020 Jul 5? | Yes (NM) |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1447 | 8 | 45664 | 395 | 2020 Jul 5 | Yes (NM) | 2021 Jan 8 |  |  | |
| Starlink 1299 | 6 | 45418 | 550 | 2020 Jul 6? | Yes |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1203 | 5 | 45202 | 550 | 2020 Jul 7? | Yes |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1085 | 3 | 44963 | 550 | 2020 Aug 6 | Yes |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1181 | 4 | 45086 | 550 | 2020 Aug 15? | Yes (NM) |  |  | ||
| Starlink 1819 | 14 | 46670 | 260 | 2020 Oct 18 | 2020 Oct 25 |  | |||
| Starlink 1915 | 15 | 46750 | 260 | 2020 Oct 24 | 2020 Nov 6 |  | |||
| Starlink 1950 | 15 | 46778 | 260 | 2020 Oct 24 | 2020 Nov 6 |  | |||
| Starlink 1772 | 14 | 46678 | 340 | 2020 Nov 1 | 2020 Dec 28 |  |
Satellites showing odd orbital behaviour
| Sat ID | Launch | SSN | Altitude | Fail Date | SPX Fail | Orbit | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink 1029 | 2 | 44734 | 380 | 2020 Jan? | No |  |  | Still manuevering |
| Starlink 1157 | 4 | 45055 | 300-350 | - | No |  | ||
| Starlink 1175 | 4 | 45097 | 300-350 | - | No | | ||
| Starlink 1438 | 8 | 45715 | 300-350 | - | No | | ||
| Starlink 1473 | 9 | 45737 | 300-350 | - | No | | ||
| Starlink 1348 | 7 | 45561 | 390 | 2020 Aug 17? | No |  |  | Interrupted decay |
| Starlink 1516 | 9 | 45749 | 380 | 2020 Jul 5? | No |  |  | |
| Starlink 1469 | 9 | 45752 | 309 | 2020 Aug 30? | No |  |  |
-
SpaceX May 15 report to FCC:
Bad Sat No. Altitude Tentative ID 7 549 Starlink 1268? 8 373 Starlink 1311? 9 550 10 550 11 401 12 383 Starlink 1029? -
SpaceX Jun 23 report to FCC:
This report only includes sats which lost manueverability at altitudes above injection. The text (mentioning 478 satellites )implies V0.9 satellites are now omitted. Nos 1 to 6 are clearly the same as nos 7 to 12 of the previous report. Looking at the orbital data there are no obvious candidates for the additional 3 satellites (Nos 7 to 9 in the new table).I urge SpaceX to include the specific satellite names or catalog numbers in future reports so that this information can be independently assessed, and so that other satellite operators know that the relevant satellites are not able to maneuver.
Elias Eccli suggested a set of identifications on twitter; these are included here. However, I don't see evidence yet that Starlink 1204 has failed.
Bad Sat No. Altitude Eccli proposed ID 1 549 Starlink 1037 2 373 Starlink 1311 3 550 Starlink 1204 4 550 Starlink 1065 5 401 Starlink 1157 6 383 Starlink 1029 7 550 Starlink 1110 8 550 Starlink 1126 9 535 Starlink 1353 In addition to these proposed identifications, my list includes S-1040, S-1440, and S-1268. These all failed at or near injection altitude, so that explains why they are not in the SpaceX list.