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They were launched only last week and they are already going to fall back. Satellites in SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, victims of a solar storm, will burn up in the atmosphere in the coming days. Forty of the 49 spacecraft put into orbit are concerned.
SpaceX had just put into orbit 49 satellites of its Starlink constellation at an altitude of 210 kilometers. This is a low enough orbit, but sufficient, however, for its spacecraft not to rub against the atmosphere. Everything had to go well but it was without counting on the moods of the sun.
On Friday, one of its storms hit the Earth with a stream of very energetic particles. No worries on the ground, because they are mostly blocked by the magnetic field of our planet, but up there, some effects were still felt. The atmosphere warmed up a little, expanded and gained altitude.
This is not an exceptional phenomenon, but it is enough for the atmosphere to now reach the satellites in question. These then slowed down due to friction. They have gone into “safe mode” while things calm down. Unfortunately for them, they never got out of it and will therefore continue to lose speed and go down, until they burn completely in the coming hours and days.
It wasn’t even a high-intensity solar storm. These are also going to be more and more powerful until 2025. The moment when our star will, as every 11 years, experience its peak of activity.
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