We simply received a fantastic up-close have a look at a SpaceX Starlink satellite tv for pc in orbit, due to Vantor’s WorldView-3 spacecraft.
On Wednesday (Dec. 17), this explicit Starlink suffered an anomaly that precipitated a lack of communication with the bottom and an unscheduled venting of its propulsion tank. The satellite tv for pc is now tumbling and headed down towards Earth’s ambiance, the place it is going to be incinerated in a matter of weeks, in response to SpaceX.
The corporate used its WorldView-3 Earth-observing satellite tv for pc to picture the Starlink spacecraft on Thursday (Dec. 18) from a distance of 150 miles (241 kilometers).
The photograph, taken whereas the duo had been flying over Alaska, incorporates a decision of 4.7 inches (12 centimeters), offering SpaceX with key details about the satellite tv for pc.
“Our group took benefit of the superior capabilities of our non-Earth imaging expertise and lately expanded assortment capability to maneuver shortly and supply SpaceX with affirmation that their satellite tv for pc was principally intact,” Todd Surdey, Vantor’s govt vice chairman and normal supervisor of enterprise and rising merchandise, stated in a assertion on Saturday (Dec. 20). “This fast intelligence supply enabled them to shortly assess potential harm to the spacecraft.”
Imagery collected by Vantor’s WorldView-3 satellite tv for pc about 1 day after the anomaly exhibits that @starlink Satellite tv for pc 35956 is essentially intact. The 12-cm decision picture was collected over Alaska from 241 km away. We recognize the fast response by @vantortech to offer this… https://t.co/8OcTZsk5Gx pic.twitter.com/1PafjFwuRPDecember 20, 2025
There may be apparently some harm: Information means that the satellite tv for pc launched a small variety of particles objects on account of the anomaly. However these items, and the satellite tv for pc itself, should not a gift an issue to different spacecraft in low Earth orbit (LEO), in response to SpaceX.
“We recognize the fast response by @vantortech to offer this imagery. Extra information counsel that there’s a small variety of trackable particles objects from the occasion, and we count on the satellite tv for pc and particles to reenter and totally demise inside weeks,” Michael Nicolls, vice chairman of Starlink engineering at SpaceX, stated in an X put up on Saturday.
Starlink is by far the most important satellite tv for pc constellation ever assembled. It at present consists of about 9,300 lively spacecraft — about 65% of all of the operational satellites in Earth orbit.
