Starlink, which of course happens to be the internet service provider from Tesla as well as SpaceX founder Elon Musk, has apparently gone on to lost a large number of satellites thanks to a geomagnetic storm, as around 40 of such satellites have been destroyed.
In accordance with what the official blog post goes on to claim, the company has actually claimed that around 40 of its 49 satellites which were launched on the 3rd of February this year have been destroyed due to the said geomagnetic storm. This storm has then caused “up to 50 percent higher drag than the previous launches,” which ended up preventing the newly launched satellites from reaching their optimal orbit around the Earth. Despite Starlink’s best efforts to reduce damages, 40 of the satellites have ended burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere and were unable to reach their proper destination.
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For those of you who are unaware, SpaceX’s ISP unit has recently proceeded on to announce that it sent out more than 2000 satellites and has indeed planned out the launch of 12,000 more. And so, while the loss of 40 might not represent a rather significant one, it still happens to be a rather expensive loss all in all – as almost all of the Falcon 9 rocket’s payload has been destroyed. Interestingly enough then, the company took this chance to showcase the minute impact that its satellites cause in the skies.
Of course space debris and clutter has indeed been a growing concern over the course of the past few years, with the Starlink also facing criticism due to its plan to launch thousands and thousands of satellites. They have saved a wide range of criticism from astronauts as well as scientists all over, and it seems that things aren’t likely to change anytime soon.
