DailyPost 1965
STARLINK – 40 SATELLITES WIPED OUT
Entrepreneurship, innovation, crazy ideas, making the world have faith in it or else give your life for it are the stories of people, who have successfully changed the world against all odds. The rags to riches to near bankruptcy and back again, being written off, spending most of the nights in 2018 on the factory floor, and making destiny stand on its head is the grey matter of which Elon Musk is made of. SpaceX has seen crashes which could have crushed Elon Musk’s space dreams, but that was not allowed to happen. Today, he is a unique player in that market. Tim Higgins started writing about him to declare his nemesis, but by the time the book Power Play ended, Tesla had won the automobile world and Elon Musk had become the richest man ever, in human history.
SpaceX is once again in the eye of the storm. If you have set out to write human history, you are bound to be beset with such problems. SpaceX says that a geomagnetic storm wiped out 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites it launched into orbit last week. It is said that a geomagnetic storm came in the way, and it did not allow the satellites from reaching the orbital position. The aerospace company has sent 49 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit via a Falcon 9 rocket. Now there are no prophets of doom, Elon Musk has been changing the trajectories of quite a few technologies and this is one of them. Such leap in technological faith has suicidal risks, and Elon Musk is master of mastering that game. Making anything succeed is his trademark and no cost is huge for him.
”Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX providing satellite internet access coverage to most of the earth..” SpaceX has so far launched more than 2000 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 1900 are functioning. Eventually this network would consist of many thousands of small satellites in low Earth orbit, which communicate with designated ground receivers. Of the latest launch, 80% of the satellites were significantly impacted by the geomagnetic storm. ”Geomagnetic storms are triggered by disturbances between the Earth’s magnetic field and charged particles of the Sun.” This storm caused ”atmospheric drag”, to climb to levels 50% higher than the earlier launches. It made it harder for the satellites to reach their orbital position.
To save the satellites, Starlink tried to fly in ”safe-mode” to bring down the atmospheric drag but that also did not help in reaching the orbital destination. These satellites would re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere and burn up. SpaceX said that they won’t collide with other satellites as they deorbit, there is also no likelihood of orbital debris. This is the biggest loss to date in this project, aimed at transforming internet connectivity globally. The experts are of the opinion that given the capability of the company, this setback can be reversed fast. Harvard astronomer Jonathon McDowell said, ”I don’t think this is a game-changer for them. But they may change their deployment orbit a bit.”
ELON MUSK HAS MADE TECHNOLOGY DANCE TO HIS TUNES. HE CAN DO IT AGAIN.
Sanjay Sahay