Elon Musk’s SpaceX says it lost several dozen satellites to a recent space storm.
The private space agency said that 40 of the 49 satellites it launched on Thursday to expand its space-based internet network Starlink have been disrupted by space anomalies and will be destroyed in the atmosphere.
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“The satellites deployed on [Feb. 3] were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm [Feb. 4],” SpaceX said in a Tuesday update. “These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase.” Geomagnetic storms are typically caused when charged particles from the sun, or solar wind, interact with Earth’s magnetic field, according to the Space Weather Prediction Center.
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SpaceX engineers attempted to protect the satellites by placing them in safe mode, trying to minimize the atmospheric drag and avoid the storm’s effects. However, atmospheric drag stopped the satellites from recovering and rising into a higher orbit to begin operating normally.
The satellites “will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere,” said SpaceX.
“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.”
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The satellites are part of Starlink, Musk’s attempt to provide fast internet through satellites. The internet service is serving 145,000 customers in 25 countries as of January, according to a SpaceX webcast.
SpaceX has launched an estimated 2,000 Starlink satellites into space, with 1,900 of them still operational. The satellites are expected to build a mega constellation in orbit that could eventually number up to 42,000 in total, reported Space.com.
