Re: Strongly increased chance of satellite reentries the coming days

From: satcom ops via Seesat-l <seesat-l_at_satobs.org>
Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2022 13:24:59 +0000
Hi

According to the operators , they reckon they are programmed to  burn up 
before "re-entering".

Not sure how that works unless they have some sort of pirotechnic device.

"The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other 
satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry — meaning no 
orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground," SpaceX 
wrote of the satellites' reentry.

https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-lost-geomagnetic-storm

Regards

John


On 09/02/2022 12:35, Marco Langbroek via Seesat-l wrote:
> 
> Helmets on everybody.... ;-)
> 
> There is an increased chance of seeing a reentry the coming days. Some 
> 40 Starlink satellites from the very recent Feb 3 launch are coming down.
> 
> The reason is a solar storm a day after the launch. This prevented the 
> satellites, initially deployed in a very low orbit, to raise their 
> orbits in time.
> 
> So now almost all of them will reenter. It are uncontrolled reentries.
> 
> Some have already reentered (e.g. the Puerto Rico event of Feb 7, 
> http://www.satobs.org/seesat/Feb-2022/0034.html): many more will over 
> the coming days.
> 
> This is an update from SpaceX itself on it:
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> https://www.spacex.com/updates/
> 
> February 8, 2022
> GEOMAGNETIC STORM AND RECENTLY DEPLOYED STARLINK SATELLITES
> 
> On Thursday, February 3 at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink 
> satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at 
> Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9’s second stage deployed the 
> satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 
> 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.
> 
> SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower orbits so that in the 
> very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it 
> will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment 
> altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, 
> it’s the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.
> 
> 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. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation 
> speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up 
> to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team 
> commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they  would fly edge-on 
> (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively “take  cover 
> from the storm”—and continued to work closely with the Space Force’s 
> 18th  Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the 
> satellites based on  ground radars.
> 
> Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes 
> prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising 
> maneuvers, and up to 40  of the satellites will reenter or already have 
> reentered the Earth’s atmosphere.  The deorbiting satellites pose zero 
> collision risk with other satellites and by  design demise upon 
> atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and  no 
> satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the 
> great  lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the 
> leading edge  of on-orbit debris mitigation.
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> - Marco
> 
> 
> 
> -----
> Dr Marco Langbroek  -  SatTrackCam Leiden, the Netherlands.
> e-mail: sattrackcam_at_langbroek.org
> 
> launchtower:    http://launchtower.langbroek.org
> Station (b)log: http://sattrackcam.blogspot.com
> Twitter:        _at_Marco_Langbroek
> -----
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Received on Wed Feb 09 2022 - 07:25:56 UTC

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