SpaceX assured that the satellites that descended from orbit "have zero risk of collision with other satellites"
TASS, February 9. About 40 of SpaceX's 49 Starlink microsatellites launched into Earth orbit on February 3 were severely affected by the geomagnetic storm. As reported on the company's website on Tuesday, the damaged satellites made an uncontrolled descent from orbit and could already enter the Earth's atmosphere.
"Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on [last] Thursday were severely damaged by the geomagnetic storm on Friday. The [maintenance] team <...> transferred [them] <...> <...> to safe mode. <...><...> Increased [frontal] drag at low altitudes did not allow the satellites to exit [this] <...><...> mode to begin orbital maneuvers, and up to 40 satellites will enter or have already entered the Earth's atmosphere," the message says.
The company assured that the satellites that descended from orbit "have zero risk of collision with other satellites." At the same time, as noted in SpaceX, the Starlink design provides for complete destruction upon entry into the Earth's atmosphere, which means that it is impossible for their debris to fall on the planet or (with another outcome of events) the formation of space debris.
SpaceX last Thursday launched a Falcon 9 launch vehicle with another grouping of Starlink microsatellites, the broadcast was conducted on the company's website. Launch from the site of the Space Center named after John F. Kennedy (Florida) was held at 13:13 East Coast time (21:13 GMT). The rocket launched 49 microsatellites into low Earth orbit.
The Starlink network is designed to provide Internet access by deploying a large number of devices weighing 260 kg. According to SpaceX, the launch of a total of 11 thousand satellites and their commissioning will cost $ 10 billion. The company assures that it will be able to provide broadband Internet with a traffic speed of 1 gigabit per second, which corresponds to the 5G standard. The launch, carried out on Thursday, was the 36th in the framework of the Starlink program, in total, since May 2019, SpaceX has put about 2 thousand satellites into orbit.
