A SpaceX released a new report that reveals a significant increase in the diversion maneuvers performed by its Starlink satellites.
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According to the document, between the months of December and May, the devices performed more than 25,000 maneuvers to avoid dangerous approaches with other spacecraft in orbit.
Since the launch of the first satellites in 2019, that number has reached an impressive 50,000 maneuvers. Data compiled by Professor Hugh Lewis of the University of Southampton show that this increase is exponential.
He said the number of maneuvers is doubling every six months, which raises concerns about how quickly these numbers could reach very high levels.
In the first half of 2021, Starlink satellites performed 2,219 maneuvers to avoid collisions with other satellites.
In December of the same year, that number increased to 3,333. Between December 2021 and June 2022, total maneuvers jumped to an impressive 6,873.
In the second half of last year, SpaceX, a space exploration company led by Elon Musk, had to perform an impressive number of maneuvers bypassing its satellites. There were no less than 13,612 maneuvers necessary to ensure the safety and efficiency of space missions.
At the same time, according to the most recent report released by the company, another 25,299 diversion maneuvers were carried out in the last six months. This means that each satellite was moved, on average, six times in that short period of time.
These staggering numbers reveal an exponential increase in maneuvers each semester. In just two years, the number of maneuvers doubled, totaling a tenfold increase.
If this trend continues, the projection for the next six-month period is 50,000 maneuvers, followed by 100,000 and so on.
The importance of these maneuvers is related to reducing the risk of orbital collisions. SpaceX performs detours when the probability of a collision exceeds 1 in 100,000, a limit ten times safer than that adopted by other space agencies such as NASA.
Based on this impressive data, experts project that by 2028, SpaceX's Starlink satellites will have performed nearly a million maneuvers in just six months.
