Washington, Feb 9 (Agency) A magnetic storm prevented up to 40 Starlink Internet satellites, launched in early February, from entering orbit, effectively ruining the spacecraft, SpaceX said. The geomagnetic storm that occurred earlier this month was prompted by a powerful M-class solar flare on January 30, which lasted for over four hours and was followed by a coronal mass ejection. The satellites were put into a safe-mode flying edge-on “like a sheet of paper” to ensure protection against the storm. “Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere,” the company said in a statement.
Devices are designed to demise upon reentering the atmosphere to prevent collisions with other objects in the orbit, as well as orbital debris from reaching the Earth. Forty-nine Starlink satellites were launched into orbit on a Falcon 9 rocket on February 3 from the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral, Florida. The Starlink project seeks to provide affordable access to broadband internet connection across the world.