Investigating the Starlink Photo: When Could WorldView-3 Take the Shot?
On December 17, 2025, Starlink satellite 35956 experienced an anomaly. Within a day, SpaceX had partnered with Vantor to photograph the tumbling satellite from orbit using WorldView-3. The image, taken from 241 km away, showed the satellite was “largely intact.” A comment on LinkedIn caught my attention: How quickly could they take this photo? I decided to find out. The Event The official Starlink announcement reported that satellite 35956 had lost communications and was venting propellant. SpaceX would deorbit it. LeoLabs detected “tens of objects” in the vicinity, though SpaceX described it as a “small number” of trackable debris. ...