Posted on 02/08/2022 7:24:57 PM PST by zeestephen
Elon Musk's satellite internet service Starlink just got dealt an expensive blow — the company's currently estimating that 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites it launched on February 3rd will be destroyed because of a geomagnetic storm. The storm caused "up to 50 percent higher drag than during previous launches," keeping the deployed satellites from reaching their proper orbit around the Earth.
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
Well duhhh!
It is not the storm that caused the issue, it was the launch.
The storm caused "up to 50 percent higher drag than during previous launches,"
Normal launch is to a low orbit, so failed activation will face elevated drag and de-orbit quickly (a year or so). The storm impacted the atmosphere, causing higher density higher up than normal, causing viable satellites to slow and fall.
Launch was fine.
Gee...
That leaves hundreds of them still up there...
That assumes that the chicoms haven’t been snatching those up...
They’ll make some nice fireworks on their way back down.
Geomagnetic storms do not knock satellites out of orbit.
Geomagnetic storms can fry unprotected electronics.
I doubt either happened.
Love your tag line.
MSN talking heads know nothing about electromagnetic waves.
:-)
It seems that the Starlink system just got an early warning zot by God!
The dummies at MSN were smart enough to understand the problem has nothing to do with electromagnetic waves. You are not.
B s. Free communication is always positive. I’m not sure why you want big Corp wanting control over the gateway. My guess is not good. By all beans log into to you isp and expect transparency. Idiot.
You forgot to read the article.
Starlink satellites are deliberately launched into a low unsustainable orbit.
The reason - so any satellite that is not functioning correctly can be immediately de-orbited and burned up.
The healthy satellites are then maneuvered into a higher permanent orbit.
The timing of the storm required them to put all 49 satellites into safe mode at their lower orbit. 40 satellites are expected to de-orbit and burn up.
Articles from msn.com are written by AI. It’s been that way for a year or two.
Wow, I never knew that geomagnetic storms could cause so much drag that they could prevent satellites from reaching orbit. That is really hard to believe. Any orbital folks here know if that is true?
Please read the article before making declarations that are not in the article.
Thanks.
“hundreds”
Tbiusabds
This article was written at The Verge and purchased by MSFT for publication on MSN.com.
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