The Starlink network’s 49 newest satellites were launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s ambitious Starlink project was hit hard this week when nearly 40 of its satellites were damaged by a recent geomagnetic storm. SpaceX, the commercial space company owned by Elon Musk, said 40 of the 49 satellites it launched on February 3 “will return or have already re-entered” Earth’s atmosphere due to the storm. . It added that the storm caused “up to 50 percent more drag than previous launches” and prevented the satellites from reaching their intended orbits.
“Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday,” SpaceX said in a statement.
The company added that engineers have tried to fly the satellites like a “sheet of paper” to reduce drag, but it seems that only 9 satellites can survive the geomagnetic storm. Nearly 40 satellites failed to reach their orbits causing “zero collision risk” with other satellites. Upon entering Earth’s atmosphere, these satellites will self-destruct, meaning there will be no orbital debris and no satellite parts to touch the ground, SpaceX added in the statement.
SpaceX admits that deploying low-altitude satellites “to us comes at a significant cost.”
The company’s ultimate goal is to operate a constellation of more than 12,000 satellites in low Earth orbit as part of the Starlink project to deliver low-latency broadband services around the world, even even in areas not covered by terrestrial systems. Considering that, the loss of 40 satellites is not a setback for the company, but those satellites certainly took up a Falcon 9 launch.
Starlink is currently active in some parts of the world but not all. In India, the government has instructed Starlink Refund all previous orders until it secures a license to operate in the country.
SpaceX, a major partner of NASA, especially for its human spaceflight program, is planning to launch many more in the coming weeks and months. It has set a goal of making a record 52 debuts This year.
Musk recently tweeted that Falcon 9 will launch on average every week to hit its goal in 2022.
If all goes well, Falcon will launch about once a week on average by 2022, bringing ~2/3 of the Earth’s payload into orbit
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 3, 2022
SpaceX has been selected by NASA is part of the space agency’s Artemis program, where astronauts will be sent to explore more of the Moon. NASA has chosen SpaceX to continue building the first commercial human lander, which will safely bring two American astronauts to the surface of the Moon.
