They were launched only last week and they will already fall. Satellites of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, victims of a solar storm, will burn up in the atmosphere in the coming days. Forty machines out of the 49 put into orbit are concerned.
SpaceX had just put 49 satellites of its Starlink constellation into orbit at an altitude of 210 kilometers. It is a fairly low orbit but sufficient, however, for its machines not to rub against the atmosphere. Everything had to go well but it was without counting on the moods of the sun.
On Friday, one of its storms hit Earth with a stream of highly energetic particles. No worries on the ground, because they are mostly blocked by the magnetic field of our planet, but up there, some effects were still felt. The atmosphere warmed up a little, expanded and gained altitude.
A phenomenon not exceptional but sufficient for the atmosphere to now reach the satellites in question. These then slowed down because of friction. They went into “safe mode” until things calmed down. Unfortunately for them, they never got out of it and will therefore continue to lose speed and descend, until they burn completely in the hours and days to come.
It wasn’t even a high-intensity solar storm. These will also be more and more powerful until 2025. The moment when our star will experience its peak of activity, as every 11 years.
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