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Geomagnetic storm destroys 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites


Space

Geomagnetic storm destroys 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites

SpaceX is in the course of losing up to 40 of the 49 pristine Starlink Internet satellites due to a geomagnetic gale that struck just a day after the fleet’s launch on February 3.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocketship launched 49 Starlink satellites on February 3 from NASA’s iconic Pad 39A at its Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them.

The storm caused up to 50 percent increased drag than during previous launches, keeping the deployed satellites from reaching their right orbit around the Earth. And while Starlink tried to fly them ‘edge on’ to reduce that drag, it is now purported that as many as 40 of them will burn up within the Earth’s atmosphere instead of reaching their destinations.

SpaceX recently achieved the 2,000 satellite launch milestone and has plans to launch 12,000, if not a great many more— so losing 40 of them might not be a massive deal in the grand scheme of things. Still, a vast majority of an entire Falcon 9 rocket’s Starlink launch capacity is burning up in the atmosphere.


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