GoKawiilThis is an AI Free Zone: Text created by Large Language Models is spreading across the Internet. It's well-written, but frequently inaccurate. If you find a mistake on Spaceweather.com, rest assured it was made by a real human being.
AURORAS ARE POSSIBLE TOMORROW: NOAA's latest forecast model predicts a CME impact on March 19th just hours before the northern vernal equinox. The timing is perfect for amplification by the "Russell-McPherron effect, which boosts storms around the onset of Spring. The impact could produce a G2-class geomagnetic storm with photographic auroras at mid-latitudes. Would you like an instant text message when the CME arrives? Sign up for CME Impact Alerts.
TEN THOUSAND STARLINKS: On March 16th, a Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 25 Starlink satellites. It was a routine launch for SpaceX, the 33rd of 2026. But those 25 Starlinks crossed a milestone. For the first time in history, more than 10,000 Starlink satellites were simultaneously circling Earth.
Click to view of dynamic plot of Low-Earth Orbit from Heavens Above
Consider where we started: When SpaceX launched its first operational Starlinks in May 2019, there were roughly 2,000 active satellites of all kinds orbiting Earth. Starlink alone now outnumbers the entire pre-2019 fleet five to one. The constellation has utterly transformed the orbital environment.
The numbers are sobering. Since 2019, more than 11,596 Starlinks have been launched. Of those, more than 1,500 have already reentered the atmosphere as SpaceX retires older satellites to make room for newer models. Each re-entry deposits about 30 kg of aluminum oxide into the upper atmosphere--an uncontrolled chemistry experiment on a planetary scale.
In case you're wondering how this might affect astronomy, consider this recent video of Comet Wierzchoś (C/2024 E1) from Gerald Rhemann:
Starlinks outnumbered the comet 10:1. "Satellite interference is a growing challenge--especially near dusk and dawn," he says.
With so many Starlinks circling Earth, the orbital environment is increasingly unstable. It's "an orbital house of cards," according to a study led by Sarah Thiele of Princeton University, which finds that a severe solar storm could kickstart widespread catastrophic collisions in as little as 2-3 days. SpaceX itself reported to the FCC that Starlink satellites performed roughly 300,000 collision-avoidance maneuvers in 2025 alone.
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