SpaceX loses 40 Starlink satellites to geomagnetic storm

40 out of a total of 49 Starlink satellites launched on February 3rd from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be destroyed by geomagnetic storm.

Geomagnetic storms happen when the solar winds meet the Earth’s magnetic field. Designed to take cover from this kind of events, the satellites failed to execute commands and will not reach their programmed orbit. As after re-entering Earth’s atmosphere they are expected to disintegrate, the satellites will leave behind no dangerous debris.

SpaceX representatives declared:

“Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase.

"Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe mode to begin orbit-raising manoeuvrers, and up to 40 of the satellites will re-enter or already have re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere. The de-orbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry — meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation."

SpaceX plans to launch 10.000 more Starlink satellites on Earth’s low orbit, as so far 2.000 have already been set on course. This triggered complaints from astronomers all over the world, due to the abundance of Starlink satellites significantly hindering observations of the night’s sky.

The latest Starlink launch last week, named Starlink 4-7 mission, was SpaceX’s third flight this year.

Moreover, the bad news continues, as the Falcon 9 rocket owned by the same company is expected to hit the moon in the near future.

Source: theguardian.com