Elon Musk's 40 Starlink SpaceX satellites crashed in a geomagnetic storm. In
just one day, 40 of the 49 satellites that have been launched were swept
away by a geomagnetic storm.
Quoted from Cnet, 40 Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX returned to
Earth and disintegrated in the atmosphere, according to an official update
on the SpaceX website.
For additional information, the Starlink satellite is an internet satellite
operated by SpaceX, one of Elon Musk's companies. This Starlink satellite
provides internet services for several countries in the world.
At least, SpaceX has launched more than 2,000 Starlink satellites since
2018.
Back again discussing Starlink, quite surprising news came from the Starlink
SpaceX satellite that was hit by the disaster. The Starlink satellite, which
was sent out in an effort to bring high-speed satellite internet around the
world, returned to Earth's atmosphere and was destroyed above by a
geomagnetic storm.
These geomagnetic storms are caused by the sun spewing out particles of the
solar wind that eventually hit Earth. The particles turned out to disrupt
the planet's magnetic field and disrupt the satellite, increasing the drag
and disrupting the orbit of the satellite itself.
SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket
As a result, of the 49 Starlink satellites SpaceX sent to Falcon 9, 40
returned to Earth's atmosphere and disintegrated in the atmosphere. The
incident occurred after its launch on February 3, 2022.
The Starlink team had time to control the satellite in safe mode to minimize
obstacles from the geomagnetic storm. Unfortunately, this is not enough to
avoid this geomagnetic storm.
SpaceX is quoted as saying by Cnet (10/02/2022) that the satellites will
"reenter or have already entered Earth's atmosphere" on Tuesday, effectively
ending their short life.
Reportedly there was no significant impact even though dozens of Starlink
satellites fell to Earth. According to Starlink, when satellites collide
with the atmosphere, they are designed to burn up completely.
Thus no debris reaches the Earth's surface. SpaceX also added that the
disaster that destroyed the Starlink satellite did not pose a risk to other
satellites in the vicinity.
This dramatic event was also recorded by the Socieedad de Astronomia del
Caribe, a non-profit astronomical organization based in Puerto Rico, as
quoted from Space.com.
Like a meteor that crossed the night sky, dozens of satellites were seen
burning in the sky. This incident was recorded in a video uploaded to the
kevinizooropa YouTube channel.