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As The edge According to the information received, SpaceX asked the FCC if it could launch 1,584 satellites at 550 km, while the orbit originally proposed was 1,110 km. It argues that the lower orbit may allow it to reduce the number of satellites required for the operation and, importantly, to assist in the destruction of these satellites when they do not are more operational. While SpaceX plans to actively desorb its satellites when the time comes, if a satellite breaks down and can no longer desorb it as planned, the lower altitude orbit can help the company get rid of this satellite in due time. . In such a low orbit, natural effects, such as gravity and the particles in the atmosphere that push satellites down, would be used to lift them out of the orbit within five years, if not earlier.
It is also important to get rid of space debris, especially as SpaceX plans to launch 12,000 satellites in orbit around the Earth as part of Starlink. The 1,584 satellites in question represent only a portion of the 4,425 satellites approved by the FCC for launch earlier this year.
In its new report to the FCC, SpaceX said its two test satellites had demonstrated what "lower altitude operation" offered. The FCC still has to approve the revised plans.
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