On February 4, a geomagnetic storm knocked out up to 40 of the 49 SpaceX high-speed internet satellites that were launched to a low deployment orbit 130 miles above Earth the day before. According to Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, the incident was believed to be the largest collective loss of satellites due to a single geomagnetic event and was unique in the way it unfolded.
Elon Musk’s company has issued a statement claiming that there is “virtually” no risk because the satellites are constructed without any dense metallic components and should burn up completely without causing any damage to Earth.
Here’s how it went down:
On February 3, these 49 satellites were launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and placed in their initial orbit, which brought them closer to Earth. According to the company, the satellites are placed in a nearby orbit for final checks before being launched into space.
A geomagnetic storm struck around 40 of them on February 4th. which is a type of space weather event caused by solar corona ejections into space, causing disturbances in the Earth’s upper atmosphere and increased drag on low-orbiting objects.
The Starlink team acted quickly when the geomagnetic storm hit the satellites, putting them in a safe mode, but 40 satellites were unable to raise their orbits.
There is “zero risk of collision” with other satellites, according to the company, as 40 satellites are reentering or have already entered Earth’s atmosphere. There isn’t expected to be any debris on the ground.
The full statement from SpaceX can be found here.
“On Thursday, February 3 at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9’s second stage deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.
“SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower orbits so that in the very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, it’s the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.
“Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.
“Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere. 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. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation.”
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