Impact of Geomagnetic Storm: Elon Musk-owned Starlink lost a dozen of satellites that were caught in a geomagnetic storm a day after the satellites were launched on February 3.
Key points:
- According to Starlink, some 40 out of 49 satellites have been impacted causing them to fall from orbit before they could be commissioned.
- Second stage of Falcon 9 launcher had deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of around 210 km above Earth.
- Each of the satellite achieved controlled flight.
- They had been due to join its Starlink satellite internet project.
- These satellites were designed to burn up while re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere, in order to avoid creation of debris in space.
What are Geomagnetic Storm or flares?
- Solar storms are magnetic plasma ejected at great speed from the solar surface.
- Solar "storms" are caused by powerful explosions on the sun's surface, which spit out plasma and magnetic fields that can hit the Earth.
- This usually occurs during the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots.
- Sunspots are the dark regions on the surface of the Sun.
- These dark regions are comparatively cooler than the surrounding photosphere.
- These storms usually last for a few minutes or sometimes even hours.
Note: The solar storm that deorbited the satellites occurred on February 1 and 2, and its powerful trails were observed on February 3.
Effect on Earth:
- Most of the Solar flares do not reach to the Earth.
- But sometimes, but solar flares or storms, solar energetic particles (SEPs), high-speed solar winds, and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that come close can impact space weather in near-Earth space and the upper atmosphere.
What are services hit by Solar storms?
- Solar storms can hit operations of space-dependent services like global positioning systems (GPS), radio, and satellite communications.
- Geomagnetic storms interfere with high-frequency radio communications and GPS navigation systems.
- Aircraft flights, power grids, and space exploration programmes are also vulnerable.
- CMEs (coronal mass ejections), with ejectiles loaded with matter travelling at millions of miles an hour, can potentially create disturbances in the magnetosphere, the protective shield surrounding the Earth.
- Astronauts on spacewalks could face possible health risks from exposure to solar radiation outside the Earth’s protective atmosphere.
How scientists predict solar storms?
- Solar physicists, scientists among others use computer models in order to predict solar storms and solar activities.
- The recent phenomenon, February 1-2, that knocked out Starlink’s satellites were already predicted on January 29.
- Current models are capable of predicting a storm’s time of arrival and its speed but the storm’s structure or orientation still cannot be predicted.
- However, with increasing global dependence on satellites for almost every activity, a better space weather forecasts and more effective ways for protecting satellites are needed.