It is thanks to SpaceX that Starlink has been able to exponentially increase its network of low Earth orbit satellites. These offer the Internet access service that many use outside of guaranteed access locations. Now, from what is revealed, these satellites are having some problems, with SpaceX having lost more than 200 Starlink satellites in the last 2 months.
Although it may not seem normal, the loss of satellites by Starlink is something that happens regularly and naturally. Their useful life, although long, ends up expiring due to several factors and they fall towards the earth, in a process that ends before they touch the ground.
This process now appears to have been accelerated by some external factor, with more than 200 SpaceX satellites being lost. This number was presented by the website satellitemap.space, which tracks and monitors these Starlink assets.
Video of last night's @Starlink satellite deployment pic.twitter.com/K7ezZLLusz
- SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 16, 2023
This is the first time that Starlink has lost a significant number of satellites in a short space of time. These are normally caused by solar flares that result in changes in the orbit and damage or destroy these elements.
The nature of these satellites is not known, as their model is unclear. If these are the newer Starlink satellites that SpaceX regularly launches, then the company will have to conduct at least nine SpaceX Falcon 9 launches to make up for the missed ones.
This same site shows that on July 15, 353 Starlink satellites burned up upon re-entering the atmosphere. That number jumped by more than 200 to 568 satellites in the latest readings. By way of comparison, only 248 burned down at the beginning of this year, so the number destroyed during the last two months is higher than the figure for the first seven months of the year.
The reasons for this loss of satellites are not known, but SpaceX and Starlink will have to accelerate launches to cover these gaps. The recent change in satellites changed the number that Falcon 9s carry, thus increasing the need for flights to make up the difference.
