On February 9, SpaceX, a space exploration technology company, said that a recent magnetic storm may have destroyed 40 satellite chain Internet satellites, which is a heavy blow to Elon Musk's satellite internet service. SpaceX currently estimates that 40 of the 49 satellite chains launched on February 3 will be scrapped due to the impact of geomagnetic storms. The geomagnetic storm generated 50% more resistance than the previous satellite launch, making it impossible for the deployed satellite to reach the normal orbit around the earth. Although SpaceX tries to make the satellite chain "sidefly" to reduce the impact of drag, at present, up to 40 satellites cannot reach the predetermined orbit and will fall into the earth's atmosphere and burn up. The number of satellites launched by SpaceX has exceeded 2000, and the final plan is to launch 12000 satellites. The loss of 40 satellites does not seem to be a major event for the whole satellite chain satellite network. "At 1:13 p.m. EDT on Thursday, February 3, the Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida and sent 49 satellite chains to low earth orbit. The second stage booster of the rocket sent the satellites to a predetermined position about 210 kilometers from the earth's surface, and each satellite achieved controlled flight," SpaceX said "SpaceX usually deploys satellites in these lower earth orbits. In rare cases, satellites cannot pass the initial system inspection and will soon be out of orbit due to atmospheric resistance. Although this low earth orbit should deploy more powerful satellites, it is the right way to maintain a sustainable space environment." "Unfortunately, the satellite deployed on Thursday was severely affected by a magnetic storm on Friday. The geomagnetic storm warmed the atmosphere and increased the atmospheric density at the altitude of the satellite. In fact, GPS data showed that the speed and severity of the geomagnetic storm caused the atmospheric drag to be 50% higher than that at the previous launch. The satellite chain team directed the satellite into safe mode and passed the maximum limit of side flight The purpose of reducing resistance is to effectively 'avoid storms'. " "Preliminary analysis shows that when the satellites fly in low orbit, due to the increasing resistance, the satellites cannot leave the safe mode to upgrade their orbit, and up to 40 satellites will fall or have fallen into the earth's atmosphere. The collision risk between these satellites and other satellites is zero. In addition, once these satellites enter the atmosphere, they will be scrapped and burned, which means that there will be no Debris flying in orbit, there will be no satellite parts hit the ground. This particular situation shows that the star chain team has made great efforts to ensure that the system reduces orbital debris. " SpaceX seems to be taking this opportunity to publicize that the satellite chain has little impact on the space environment. In fact, a new study has further exacerbated people's concerns that satellites operating in orbit will leave stripes on astronomical observation images, which will even affect people's identification of dangerous near Earth Asteroids in the future. Astronomers are setting up a "center for the protection of the dark and quiet sky from satellite constellation interference" to solve this problem. (Xinhua News Agency)
Edit：Li Ling Responsible editor：Chen Jie
Source：Net Ease News
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