An artist’s impression of a Starlink satellite in orbit
Michal Bednarek/Shutterstock
A fragment of an out-of-control SpaceX Starlink satellite smashed into a farm in Canada last year, New Scientist can reveal – raising questions about the risks of de-orbiting space junk.
“That’ll punch a hole in whatever it lands on, including your head,” says Samantha Lawler, an astronomer at the University of Regina in Canada.
Last July, SpaceX launched a batch of its internet-providing Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket, but a malfunction with the rocket’s upper…