@volcano @sundogplanets

For the most part YES. Most of these satellites have ion thrusters which should allow them to be deorbited on command. The orbit these are on will also naturally decay after 5yrs if the satellites stop occasionally boosting their orbits.

This is all a bit uncharted air control problem the so it's probably a bit dangerous to bring a lot down at once.

@nullagent @volcano @sundogplanets

Yes, they will mostly burn up in the upper atmosphere and are unlikely to kill people via direct impact. However, these large numbers of satellites will deplete the ozone layer and kill and blind people via increased rates of cancer and cataracts.

The chances of SpaceX/Elon Musk caring are ... I dunno ... close to zero. Even if government regulation demands that they do something about it, I expect they will simply defy the law.

@Leuenberg @nullagent @volcano @sundogplanets

Reference re massive numbers of satellite reentries depleting ozone layer:

https://www.space.com/megaconstellations-threat-to-ozone-layer-recovery

@Leuenberg @nullagent @volcano @sundogplanets

The question I was replying to was asking whether it was possible to *safely* remove these large numbers of Starlink satellites.

In order to do something _safely_ it is imperative to err on the side of caution. If the extent of the damage to the ozone layer is not certain, you don't get to assume it's negligible and say you're doing the safe thing.