Sun blast kills batch of Starlink satellites, will burn up reentering

A blast from the Sun that caused a geomagnetic storm has killed numerous of SpaceX's Starlink satellites, according to an announcement from the company.

According to SpaceX, the batch of Starlink satellites that was launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on February 3 have suffered from a geomagnetic storm in low-Earth orbit will result in 40 of the 49 satellites failing to make it to their intended destination. SpaceX writes that a geomagnetic storm occurring on the February 4 "significantly impacted" the satellites by causing "atmospheric drag".

The company writes that the Starlink satellites were commanded to dodge the geomagnetic storm by turning sideways, or "edge-on", but unfortunately, the maneuver never reached the satellites. SpaceX has designed the Starlink satellites to disintegrate upon re-entry into Earth's atmosphere, which will mean that none of the satellites will pose a risk to anyone on the Earth's surface.

"Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. Up to 40 of the satellites will re-enter or already have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. Up to 40 of the satellites will re-enter or already have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites," SpaceX said in a statement.