A breathtaking video of the skies above the Caribbean shows a flurry of Starlink satellite wreckage falling to Earth after being hit by a geomagnetic solar storm. On February 7, around 2:40 a.m. local time, the Caribbean Astronomical Society (SAC) caught footage of the satellites’ dramatic re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere above Puerto Rico.
Several specialists who analysed the satellites’ route have since confirmed that the footage appears to show the Starlink satellites breaking up into multiple shards as they reached Earth’s atmosphere, according to the SAC. One of the satellites appears to have destroyed above the island, according to the footage. Starlink is a SpaceX-operated constellation of internet satellites that “beam down” broadband internet around the world. Each satellite is about 3.2 meters (10.5 feet) long, 1.6 meters (5.25 feet) wide, and weighs around 260 kilograms (573 pounds).
On February 3, SpaceX launched 49 additional Starlink satellites, but at least 40 of them were lost the next day due to bad space weather. A geomagnetic storm slammed the fledgling satellite fleet, causing the atmosphere to warm and the density of the atmosphere to rise. The satellites were unable to leave safe mode as a result of the increased drag, causing them to re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The satellites burnt up during re-entry, therefore there was very little debris on the earth.
SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, has lost up to 40 of the 49 satellites it launched on Thursday. These were supposed to be part of the contentious mega-confederation Starlink, but the Sun had other ideas. The satellites burned down into the atmosphere due to a geomagnetic storm that slammed Earth the day after launch. Because of the increasing level of charged particles from the Sun, geomagnetic storms can be hazardous to electronics. However, there is a secondary influence at work here. These large-scale space weather phenomena have an impact on the atmosphere as well, changing its density. At our level, the difference isn’t significant, but when you’re hundreds of kilometers above the ground and relying on a very thin environment, it’s a game-changer.
The Starlink satellites are launched into an orbit that brings them as near to the ground as 210 kilometers (130 miles), and then climb to higher orbits. The density of the atmosphere had increased due to the geomagnetic storm, and the satellites began to face 50 percent more drag than expected during this stage of the orbital maneuver. “The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—effectively “taking cover from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars,” according to a press statement.
