SpaceX loses contact with Starlink satellite after mishap

Dec 18 (Reuters) – SpaceX’s Starlink said one of its satellites experienced an anomaly in space on Wednesday that created a “small number” of debris and cut off communications with the spacecraft at 418 km (259.73 miles) in altitude, a rare kinetic accident in orbit for the satellite internet giant.

“The satellite is largely intact, tumbling, and will reenter the Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise within weeks,” Starlink said in a post on X.

The company said it was working with the U.S. Space Force and NASA to monitor the debris pieces, the number of which SpaceX did not say.

Space Force’s space-tracking unit did not immediately return a request for comment on the number of trackable debris, which could pose risks for other active satellites in orbit.

With the Starlink satellite still somewhat intact, the event seemed smaller in scale than other orbital mishaps such as the breakup of an Intelsat satellite that created more than 700 pieces, or the breakup of a Chinese rocket body last year.

(Reporting by Juby Babu in Mexico City; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli, Kirsten Donovan)