SpaceX, Elon Musk’s space company, has lost 40 of the 49 satellites launched last Thursday in one fell swoop. A geomagnetic storm burned the Starlink satellites in the atmosphere.
Due to the solar storm near the Earth, the atmosphere expanded slightly, so that the satellites in low orbit were slowed down by air particles and fell back into the atmosphere.
The remaining nine satellites were already at higher altitudes, and thus escaped the effects of the geomagnetic storm. According to space expert Ronald Klompe, it is exceptional that so many satellites are lost at the same time. “It’s special, but on earth we don’t notice it.”
‘$10 million damage’
According to Klompe, the damage will also be relatively limited for SpaceX. That company has launched more than 2000 satellites together and of these, 40 have now been lost in a short time. “It costs SpaceX around $ 10 million,” estimates Klompe, who is a space historian at the National Space Museum.
Given the billions involved in all the activities of the space company, this amount is not so bad, according to the expert. “It’s annoying for SpaceX, but not insurmountable. About 300 Starlink satellites are created Per year; now they are likely to be delayed by a month.”
A Starlink satellite flies after launch just beyond the atmosphere at about 210 kilometers altitude. After that, the satellites will move themselves at a slower speed in three to four months to their workplace in space at 550 kilometers altitude. If a satellite is defective, it automatically falls back into the atmosphere where it burns. That way, there will be no space debris.
–
