Posted: Sun, Feb 13, 2022, 10:46 AM ET (1546 GMT)
As many as 40 Starlink satellites launched earlier this month will soon reenter, or have already done so, because of a geomagnetic storm. SpaceX said late Tuesday that the storm last Friday, a day after the launch of 49 satellites on a Falcon 9, increased atmospheric density, and thus drag, on the satellites in their very low initial orbit. The satellites, in a safe mode, were unable to raise their orbits. SpaceX said the satellites don't pose a risk to other spacecraft in orbit and that the satellites will burn up completely during reentry. SpaceX places Starlink satellites in a low initial orbit, with a perigee of 210 kilometers, to check out satellites before raising their orbits so that any satellites that fail those tests will quickly and naturally reenter.

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