Forty satellites destined for the high-speed internet launched by SpaceX were thrown out of orbit by a geomagnetic storm shortly after their launch. As they disintegrate in the atmosphere, they do not pose a threat to Earth, the company noted.
The 49 newest satellites in the Starlink network, launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida last Thursday (3), have successfully welcomed their initial orbit, where the company has positioned them to verify security measures, before sending them out. them farther into space.
On Friday (4), however, the satellites were hit by the weather phenomenon, reported this Tuesday (8) the company of Elon Musk. “These storms cause atmospheric heating and atmospheric density at our low take-off altitudes. Onboard GPS systems suggest that the escalating speed and severity of the storm caused up to 50% greater atmospheric drag than in previous launches,” he explained. in a statement.
The UK Space Agency has agreed that there is no risk on land, as the satellites were built without dense metals and their structure must burn out completely. NASA has not commented on the incident.
Starlink is a “constellation” of more than 2,000 satellites that provide coverage across almost the entire planet. The first batch was launched in May 2019 and SpaceX has regulatory approval to ship 12,000, with expansion plans.
Astronomers have expressed concern about the impact of these satellites on astronomical work in the field, as these devices add a congested spectrum in low Earth orbit.
There are about 4,000 active satellites in this region, which extends up to 1,900 km above the surface. About 15,000 pieces of debris from objects such as rocket chassis and deactivated probes are also accounted for.
