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SpaceX lost 40 satellites in a geomagnetic storm. it’s possible


In turn, this could slightly affect Starlink’s deployment speed: The company would have to fly fewer satellites per launch for each to have enough fuel to reach higher altitudes. It also means that failed satellites would take longer to re-enter Earth’s atmosphere, reducing what SpaceX touted as a benefit of launching to lower altitudes: This was supposed to minimize space debris because failed satellites would fall back to Earth faster. . “It’s a trade-off,” says Hugh Lewis, a satellite expert at the University of Southampton. Lewis says that at 200 kilometers, a dead satellite will stay in orbit for “days at most,” but this time increases to a few weeks at 300 kilometers or more.

Managing these mega constellations can also be a problem. While we’ve experienced solar maximum with orbiting satellites before, the number now orbiting is unprecedented. By 2025, there could be more than 10,000 from not just SpaceX but Amazon’s Project Kuiper and other similar ventures. Britain’s OneWeb. Future storms can often push and pull these satellites, displacing them and putting them at risk of collision.

“We’re talking about changing mileage in terms of altitude,” Lewis says. “The more satellites enter orbit, the limited our ability to manage this complexity. At some point, we will see something more drastic happen than just 40 satellites re-entering.”

Amazon said the constellation and the design of the moons were designed to deal with this increased solar activity, but did not provide specific details. SpaceX and OneWeb did not respond to a request for comment.

This latest event highlights how careful all mega-constellation operators must be in planning for the effects of solar activity, as any collision could add thousands of pieces of space debris that could affect our ability to safely use Earth’s orbit. “I have to believe they included this in their plan,” McDowell says. “Maybe they overlooked that, but hopefully they should have got their model working.”

What is certain is that we are heading into uncharted waters. “This region [of orbit] what we’re talking about is very valuable and important,” Lewis says. “Everyone needs to do a much better job of using foresight to anticipate these problems.”



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