Latest Developments
SpaceX is accelerating its East Coast Starship campaign, with ground infrastructure work at Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A advancing toward a potential first Florida launch before the end of 2026. This would give SpaceX a second launch site for its massive Super Heavy/Starship stack, dramatically increasing cadence potential for both commercial and NASA Artemis missions. Meanwhile, the Starlink constellation continues its relentless growth, with 12,414 satellites launched to date, 10,735 currently in orbit, and 10,719 actively working — a network scale that a higher Starship flight rate would serve to expand even further.
Space Safety
The current Starlink conjunction picture reveals a critical HIGH risk event involving STARLINK-4621 and the defunct SL-18 R/B on Jul 9, 2026 at 23:44 UTC, with a minimum separation of just 0.011 km and maximum collision probability of 1.0—this represents an acute conjunction threat requiring immediate attention. Beyond this high-risk case, six additional MODERATE risk events are identified involving operational and partially operational Starlink units through mid-July 2026, while the reentry prediction picture shows five Starlink satellites in active decay predictions with estimated reentry windows spanning Jul 5-7, 2026. TIP data indicates manageable reentry uncertainty with prediction windows ranging from 180 to 1140 minutes, though continued monitoring is warranted given the rapid decay dynamics typical of end-of-life Starlink vehicles.
| Risk | Starlink Sat | Other Object | Status | Min Range (km) | Rel Speed (km/s) | Max Prob | Time of Closest Approach |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HIGH | STARLINK-4621 | SL-18 R/B | Non-operational | 0.011 | 14.173 | 1.0 | Jul 9, 23:44 UTC |
| MODERATE | STARLINK-30464 | STARLINK-36196 | Operational | 0.048 | 10.027 | 0.1285 | Jul 4, 22:40 UTC |
| MODERATE | STARLINK-5106 | STARLINK-32760 | Operational | 0.049 | 10.192 | 0.1211 | Jul 11, 06:11 UTC |
| MODERATE | STARLINK-5400 | STARLINK-5781 | Partially Operational | 0.053 | 6.407 | 0.1203 | Jul 7, 15:32 UTC |
| LOW | STARLINK-36967 | LEMUR-2-AFFIE-WAUWIE | Operational | 0.038 | 7.332 | 0.0733 | Jul 8, 04:03 UTC |
| Satellite | NORAD ID | Predicted Decay | Window (min) | Inclination | Lat | Lon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARLINK-5140 | 56147 | Jul 5, 00:11 UTC | 180 | 43° | -39.4° | 159° |
| STARLINK-1905 | 46746 | Jul 6, 05:17 UTC | 540 | 53° | 1.9° | 47.4° |
| STARLINK-1944 | 46796 | Jul 6, 16:02 UTC | 780 | 53° | -37.6° | 83.4° |
| STARLINK-1876 | 47161 | Jul 6, 22:05 UTC | 1080 | 53° | -38.7° | 100.7° |
| STARLINK-1531 | 46572 | Jul 7, 05:54 UTC | 1140 | 53° | -14.7° | 77.6° |
Detailed Coverage
Starship’s Florida Debut Could Come Before Year’s End
SpaceX and its contractors are pressing hard to complete ground systems at Launch Complex 39A in time for a Starship launch attempt from Cape Canaveral in 2026. Work spans the launch mount, flame trench, deluge system, and associated propellant infrastructure — all of which must be built to handle the roughly 17 million pounds of thrust generated by the 33 Raptor engines of the Super Heavy booster.
A successful Florida launch would be a landmark moment for the program, unlocking higher launch frequency by operating two geographically separate pads simultaneously. It also positions SpaceX to better serve polar and high-inclination orbits directly from the East Coast, which could have downstream implications for Starlink constellation shell replenishment and expansion into new orbital regimes.
Read the full story: NASASpaceFlight.com
Constellation Status
There have been no changes to the Starlink constellation since the last check. The constellation currently consists of 12,414 total satellites launched, with 10,735 in orbit, 10,719 actively working, and 1,679 that have decayed.
- Total Launched: 12414
- Total On Orbit: 10735
- Total Working: 10719
Track Starlink satellites in real-time: Track Starlink
