Up to 40 of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are expected to reenter Earth’s atmosphere and subsequently disintegrate due to a geomagnetic storm that hit last Friday.
In its announcement, SpaceX said that the storm had warmed the atmosphere and increased its density, thus raising “atmospheric drag” by up to 50% higher than its previous launches.
The 49 satellites in total had been launched on the Falcon 9 on February 3, only a day prior to the storm. While some deorbiting satellites may have already reentered the Earth’s atmosphere, SpaceX explained that the satellites don’t pose any collision risk, meaning that they won’t actually hit the planet’s surface.
“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,” the company said.
SpaceX has launched approximately 2,000 satellites since 2018 with the aim of bringing high-speed internet service to regions across the world, especially those who currently have limited access.
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