Elon Musk’s Starlink is 'experiencing problems' as recently launched satellites start deorbiting
Elon Musk’s Starlink is 'experiencing problems' as recently launched satellites start deorbiting
Starlink is one of the more ambitious projects of Elon Musk’s SpaceX, but it looks like the satellite programme is facing some major problems. Some of its recently launched satellites have begun de-orbiting or starting to fall out of their orbits.
One such satellite actually fell back to the earth and burned to a crisp upon reentry. The incident was caught by a stargazer who put it up as a short video on Twitter.
Just saw something break up in the atmosphere looking NW from Salinas, CA
Saw a burst of bright objects which then went behind a cloud. One piece emerged which you can see in the (bad) video. Seems slower than a “shooting star”
1:50AM PDT
Anyone else see it? pic.twitter.com/QAf3CRrZDA— Dann Cianca (@danncianca) April 3, 2023
The satellite that is seen in the video is reportedly one of SpaceX’s V2Mini satellites, the most recently launched version of the satellite, which, according to Musk, is having some issues.
According to Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer and astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, this spacecraft was sent into orbit just last month. “On February 27, a total of 21 satellites were launched. A lot of those had some problem or the other, but only one of them was taken down. The others are being held in an orbital limbo until SpaceX decides whether they are fixable or not,” he stated.
McDowell also stated that at least 14 more Starlinks are likely to fall out of the sky. It should be noted though, that the ones set to fall off, are anyway supposed to be retired soon. According to McDowell, a total of 3,912 Starlink satellites have been launched into orbit up until now, of which about 305 have reentered and burnt up. This brings the total number of active Starlink satellites to be at around 3600, nearly half of Musk’s plan to have 7500 satellites up in space.
While the V2Minis are new, Musk has stated that they are “experiencing certain problems” that may require SpaceX to deorbit the whole fleet. “Lots of new technology in Starlink V2, therefore some difficulties, as expected,” Musk tweeted last month.
“Some satellites will be deorbited, while others will be properly examined before being launched over the International Space Station,” he added.
Dann Cianca, chief meteorologist for KION546, saw the satellite in the footage, which was identified as Starlink-30062 from the debris that was found.
Cianca observed the falling Starlink on April 3 as it disintegrated in the sky near Salinas, California, roughly eight miles from the Pacific Ocean in the state’s northern section.
‘I saw a rush of light objects that then disappeared behind a cloud. One piece did emerge, as shown in the (poor) video. He appears to be slower than a shooting star,” he tweeted.
On the same day, McDowell reported a falling Starlink, adding that “while Starlink 30062 reentered around 0850 UTC Apr 3 off the coast of California,” he wrote in a tweet.
He then stated that there will be more to come.
“Because the Starlink rocket engines aren’t powerful enough to bring the satellites all the way down, they’re left in the clutches of the upper atmosphere for the last few days in orbit, and they reenter and burn up at a random spot on Earth, can’t predict exactly when or where,” said McDowell.
Starlink-30062 was one of 21 satellites launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on February 27.
In comparison to prior versions, SpaceX believes the new V2 Minis add around four times the network bandwidth per satellite. These new satellites weigh around 1,830 pounds.
Although all of the Starlink launches to date have used a Falcon 9, that might change once Starship is in the air. This is because Musk’s $3 billion Starship spaceship – a vehicle that potentially revolutionise long-distance space travel – is projected to be able to transport the larger and heavier Starlink 2.0 satellites, which could soon allow the internet to be beamed directly to cellphones.
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