LOS ANGELES, March 30 (Xinhua) -- U.S. aerospace company SpaceX confirmed on Monday that a Starlink satellite experienced an on-orbit anomaly on Sunday, resulting in a loss of communications and the generation of debris.
Starlink satellite 34343 lost contact while operating at an altitude of approximately 560 km above Earth, according to a release via Starlink's official X account.
Latest analysis indicates that the anomaly poses no new risk to the International Space Station and its crew, nor to NASA's upcoming Artemis II crewed lunar mission, according to the release.
SpaceX said it will continue to monitor the satellite along with any trackable debris and coordinate with NASA and the U.S. Space Force.
SpaceX also noted that it posed no new risk to the Transporter-16 rideshare mission launched earlier Monday, as payload deployments for that mission were conducted well above or below the Starlink constellation to avoid potential collisions.
Meanwhile, LeoLabs, a U.S. space technology company specializing in the tracking of satellites and space debris in low Earth orbit, said Monday it detected a fragment generation event associated with Starlink 34343 on Sunday. Its analysis suggests similarities with a previous anomaly involving Starlink satellite 35956 on Dec. 17, 2025.
Such events illustrate the need for rapid characterization of anomalous events to enable clarity of the operating environment, the company said. ■