SpaceX lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm, and experts say the worst may be yet to come. SpaceX’s satellites – colossus owned by Elon Musk – were victims of space weather and were hit by the geomagnetic storm one day after launch. Result: conditioned trajectories and burnt equipment. The company, according to the BBC, reported that up to 40 of the 49 satellites have been hit since the launch last week. The damaged structures were supposed to be part of the Starlink project, the system designed by Musk to provide high-speed Internet using thousands of satellites in orbit.
The system, the BBC points out, is relatively expensive but can be used in places where ‘traditional’ connections cannot be used. For example, in Tonga, where the January earthquake cut off connections, the focus is on building a Starlink station in nearby Fiji to facilitate access to the network.
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