New Delhi: SpaceX has reported a rare malfunction in one of its Starlink satellites that has left the spacecraft tumbling toward Earth, shedding a small
cloud of debris on the way down. The company insists that the satellite will burn up in the atmosphere and that the International Space Station (ISS) and its crew are safe.
The update on X felt a bit like a space thriller unfolding in real time, only this one is very real and happening over our heads. The incident also raises fresh questions about how crowded low-Earth orbit has become and how satellite operators share data when things go wrong.
On December 17, Starlink experienced an anomaly on satellite 35956, resulting in loss of communications with the vehicle at 418 km. The anomaly led to venting of the propulsion tank, a rapid decay in semi-major axis by about 4 km, and the release of a small number of trackable…
— Starlink (@Starlink) December 18, 2025
What happened to the Starlink satellite
The satellite in question, Starlink 35956, was orbiting at around 418 kilometres when it “experienced an anomaly” on Wednesday, SpaceX said in a statement. That problem led to a “loss of communications” with the spacecraft.
SpaceX added that “the anomaly led to venting of the propulsion tank, a rapid decay in semi-major axis by about 4 km, and the release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects”. In simple terms, something went wrong inside the satellite, it dropped a few kilometres in orbit very quickly, and small fragments were pushed out.
Starlink later said on X, “The satellite is largely intact, tumbling, and will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise within weeks.” The company stressed that its current path will place it below the ISS, “posing no risk to the orbiting lab or its crew”.
Debris, tracking and safety in low-Earth orbit
SpaceX said the anomaly “resulted in a loss of communications with the vehicle in addition to venting of the propulsion tank, and the release of a small number of trackable low relative velocity objects”. It is now working with the US Space Force and NASA to monitor those pieces.
A commercial space-tracking firm, LeoLabs, said it has already detected “tens” of likely debris fragments from the mishap. The quick drop of roughly 4 kilometres suggests “some kind of explosion occurred on board”, though SpaceX has not confirmed whether it was an internal fault or impact with another object.
SpaceX says the satellite will “fully demise” during reentry, and Starlink spacecraft are designed to break apart in the atmosphere. The company has said earlier that only very small fragments, usually harmless, can sometimes survive reentry.
Loss of Starlink-35956 (2025-271N, object 66629) https://t.co/Z28r7BN8mR pic.twitter.com/6ioZtXgcRh
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) December 18, 2025
Starlink’s growing constellation and rising traffic worries
Starlink today is “the world’s largest satellite constellation operator”, with “more than 10,000 Starlink satellites” launched and over 9,000 currently working in orbit, according to astronomer Jonathan McDowell and SpaceX’s own count.
That scale is exactly why incidents like this attract so much attention. Last week, Starlink’s vice president of engineering, Michael Nicolls, warned on X that a recently launched Chinese spacecraft came within 200 metres of a Starlink satellite. He wrote, “As far as we know, no coordination or deconfliction with existing satellites operating in space was performed” and added, “Most of the risk of operating in space comes from the lack of coordination between satellite operators – this needs to change.”
SpaceX said, “We take these events seriously. Our engineers are rapidly working to root cause and mitigate the source of the anomaly and are already in the process of deploying software to our vehicles that increases protections against this type of event.” For now, all eyes in the space tracking world will stay on Starlink 35956 as it tumbles toward its fiery end.
