Lowered Sky

The sky is getting lower. Literally. In 2026, SpaceX will begin moving around 4,400 Starlink satellites to a lower orbit, descending from 550 to roughly 480 kilometers above Earth. The official justification is space safety: fewer collision risks, faster reentry in case of failure, and adaptation to the solar cycle. At first glance, the decision seems purely technical. In reality, it says far more about the current stage of humanity’s relationship with space than about orbital physics.

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