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40 of Musk's SpaceX Satellites Fried by Geomagnetic Storm Will Return to Earth

SpaceX published a statement in which it showed that 40 of the 49 launched satellites will now return to Earth. A geomagnetic storm had rendered them useless.
SpaceX satellites fried by geomagnetic storm 6 photos
Photo: UFOvni2012 on Youtube
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Musk’s company explains this type of thing rarely happens and praises itself for using a costlier system. SpaceX points out that its satellites are sent into these lower orbits for safety reasons. If somehow the initial check after launch fails, the control center will deorbit the satellites and send them back to Earth.

These 40 satellites already started descending safely and will disintegrate on reentry. There’s no danger for humans involved.

SpaceX argues that the atmosphere warmed too much and the density of it caused the drag to increase. The company’s team tried to put the satellites in a safe mode in order to fly as efficiently as possible, but the low deployment meant a higher effort was necessary. Since the equipment wasn’t meant to face such a challenge, SpaceX’s products couldn’t leave the safe mode. The affected satellites weren’t able to follow the normal orbit raising maneuvers.

Musk’s company also underlined that these artificial celestial bodies are designed to easily break on reentry as to not pose any danger for humans or other activities that mean leaving the ground. They also won’t collide with other similar objects.

The U.S. Space Force helped SpaceX to maintain control of the satellites by providing vital info from advanced radars on Earth.

The "moderate" geomagnetic storm was caused by a solar flare and made the northern lights visible to people in the northern part of the U.S. These kinds of storms take place when there is a large exchange of energy from solar wind that enters the space surrounding Earth.

SpaceX also said the Starlink team is ready for all kinds of different scenarios and safety remains the number one priority.
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Editor's note: Gallery shows snapshots of Mexico nightsky sightings.

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About the author: Florin Amariei
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Car shows on TV and his father's Fiat Tempra may have been Florin's early influences, but nowadays he favors different things, like the power of an F-150 Raptor. He'll never be able to ignore the shape of a Ferrari though, especially a yellow one.
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