On Thursday, February 3, a Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 new Starlink satellites from Florida. The next day, an ongoing geomagnetic storm above Earth slightly increased the density of Earth's atmosphere, preventing satellites from returning to orbit. Result:most of them are now convicted.
The 49 satellites initially launched by SpaceX last week were deployed in an orbit rising 210 kilometers above Earth at its lowest point. This is obviously intentional. At this altitude, the satellites can indeed be eliminated quickly in the event of a failure immediately after launch. Usually, the structures then operate several maneuvers with the aim of rising to more than 500 km. In the event of a magnetic storm, that's another story .
Geomagnetic storms occur when intense solar winds sweeping the Earth cause shifting currents and plasmas in our planet's magnetosphere. This interaction has the effect of warming the upper atmosphere and increasing atmospheric density.
One of these storms occurred on February 4, the day after the launch of SpaceX, in the wake of a solar flare wiped out on January 30. And obviously, many satellites did not survive .
"Onboard GPS suggests that the escalating speed and severity of the storm caused an increase in atmospheric drag up to 50% greater than that of previous launches “, writes SpaceX. "The satellites were then placed in a protective 'safe mode' and instructed to fly 'like a sheet of paper' to minimize drag effects as the company worked with US Space Force and the LeoLabs company to follow them with ground radars “.
Unfortunately for most new Starlink satellites, the drag was too much. Locked in their safe mode, up to forty of them will re-enter or have already re-entered the Earth's atmosphere from the event.
Last week's SpaceX launch (Starlink mission 4-7) marked the company's third Starlink flight of 2022. Recall that SpaceX plans to break its launch record this year. The 49 satellites on board were initially to join the more than 1,800 other structures currently in orbit .
Eventually, SpaceX plans to install a megaconstellation in orbit that can have more than 30,000 satellites. The project aims to provide high-speed Internet access anywhere on Earth, especially in remote or underserved areas.
