SpaceX expects to lose up to 40 Starlink satellites due to geomagnetic storm
By Michelle Ewing, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — A geomagnetic storm is expected to cause SpaceX to lose most of the 49 satellites it launched into low-Earth orbit last week, WFTV is reporting.
In an update posted on the SpaceX website Tuesday, the company said the storm struck Friday, just one day after a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the satellites blasted off from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center.
“These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase,” said the company, which added that its Starlink team “commanded the satellites into a safe mode” so they could “take cover from the storm.”
According to a preliminary analysis, “the increased drag at the low altitudes” stopped the satellites from exiting safe mode and beginning “orbit-raising maneuvers,” the company said. As a result, as many as 40 satellites “will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere,” according to SpaceX.
“The deorbiting 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,” the company added.
Space X IN SPACE - FEBRUARY 8: In this handout photo provided by SpaceX, a Tesla roadster launched from the Falcon Heavy rocket with a dummy driver named "Starman" heads towards Mars. (Photo by SpaceX via Getty Images) (Handout/Getty Images)
Space X TITUSVILLE, FLORIDA - APRIL 11: People watch as the SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket lifts off from launch pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on April 11, 2019 in Titusville, Florida. The rocket is carrying a communications satellite built by Lockheed Martin into orbit. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Space X CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - MAY 30: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft attached takes off from the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley lifted off today on an inaugural flight and will be the first people since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Space X CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - MAY 30: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches into space with NASA astronauts Bob Behnken (R) and Doug Hurley aboard the rocket from the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. The inaugural flight is the first manned mission since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the United States. (Photo by Saul Martinez/Getty Images) (Saul Martinez/Getty Images)
Space X CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - APRIL 23: SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on April 23, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket with an international crew of four astronauts in a Crew Dragon capsule to the International Space Station. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Space X TITUSVILLE, FL - MAY 30: People line the A.Max Brewer Causeway to watch the launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida May 30, 2020 in Titusville, Florida . American astronauts Bob Behknen and Doug Hurley are aboard the crew Dragon capsule on a mission to link up with International Space Station. This is NASA's first crewed launch from U.S. soil since 2011 at the ending of the Space Shuttle program. (Photo by Red Huber/Getty Images) (Red Huber/Getty Images)
Space X IN SPACE - FEBRUARY 8: In this handout photo provided by SpaceX, a Tesla roadster launched from the Falcon Heavy rocket with a dummy driver named "Starman" heads towards Mars. (Photo by SpaceX via Getty Images) (Handout/Getty Images)
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Space X CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - MAY 30: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with the manned Crew Dragon spacecraft attached takes off from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on May 30, 2020 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley lifted off today on an inaugural flight and will be the first people since the end of the Space Shuttle program in 2011 to be launched into space from the United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Space X CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA - SEPTEMBER 15: The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with Crew Dragon capsule lifts off from launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center for the first completely private mission to fly into orbit on September 15, 2021 in Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX is flying four private citizens into space on a three-day mission. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images) (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)