Elon Musk s Starlink has satellite problems after geomagnetic storm
On Feb 3, a Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The Falcon 9 second stage placed the satellites in their intended orbit at a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above the Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.
SpaceX deploys its satellites to these lower orbits so that in the very rare event that a satellite fails initial system tests, it can quickly burn up by entering Earth's atmosphere. While the low altitude requires more powerful satellites, which incur significant costs, it is the right decision to maintain a sustainable space environment.
Unfortunately, the satellites commissioned on Thursday were severely impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and increase atmospheric density at our low altitudes. Onboard GPS suggests the storm's speed and severity increased atmospheric drag by up to 50 percent compared to previous launches. The Starlink team placed the satellites in a safe mode, flying edge-up (like a piece of paper) to minimize drag - effectively "taking cover from the storm."
Preliminary analysis shows that increased drag at low altitudes prevented the satellites from exiting safe mode to begin an orbit-raising maneuver, and that up to 40 of the satellites will re-enter or have already re-entered Earth's atmosphere . The deorbit satellites pose no risk of collision with other satellites and are destroyed upon re-entry into the earth's atmosphere, ie no debris is created in orbit and no satellite parts hit the ground.
Sources):
press release
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