Geomagnetic storm destroys 40 SpaceX satellites a day after launch

SpaceX has lost 40 satellites a day after they were launched as a magnetic storm destroys them and sends them tumbling back to earth. The American company owned by billionaire Elon Musk launched more than 30 satellites as part of its Starlink project that aims to bring fast internet to all corners of the world.
Solar storms are caused by powerful explosions on the surface of the sun spitting out plasma and magnetic fields that can hit earth.
Starlink is relatively expensive, but can be used in places where wired connections cannot be used or are prone to damage through theft, war and the weather. For example, in Tonga, where January’s earthquake severed the island’s nation’s undersea data cable, a Starlink station is being built in nearby Fiji to help restore access.
The latest 49 satellites were deployed about 210km (130 miles) above the Earth’s surface, and were according to SpaceX in “controlled flight” after being sent up on 3 February. However, a day later, the geomagnetic storm hit, warming up the atmosphere and made it much denser than expected.
“Onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50% higher than during previous launches,” SpaceX said.
The company tried to put the satellites into a “safe mode”, turning them to fly edge-on to minimise drag, however the drag was strong enough to stop the satellites ever getting out of that “safe mode” and back into the orbit they needed to reach to be stable. Instead, the company has said roughly 40 will fall back into the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up.
Jacob Geer, the UK Space Agency’s Head of Space Surveillance, said he does not expect “any part” of the satellites to hit the ground.
Continuing he said: “Events like this are a reminder that space is challenging – getting satellites or astronauts into orbit is still not easy.”
The geomagnetic storm is a setback for the company as it destroys 40 SpaceX satellites, however it is likely to only delay rather than have any other impact on the company’s planned global internet system.

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