Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?

TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.

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 obits 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.

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 8:58:50 PM UTC-8, StarDust wrote:
> Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?
>
> TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.
>
> 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 obits 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.

Hmm! I guess, it's true, after all!
https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-lost-geomagnetic-storm#:~:text=The%20satellites%20launched%20on%20Feb,the%20storm%20a%20day%20later..&text=SpaceX%20is%20in%20the%20process,the%20fleet's%20launch%20last%20week.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday (Feb. 3) from NASA's historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them..

On Tue, 8 Feb 2022 21:12:50 -0800 (PST), StarDust <csoka01@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 8:58:50 PM UTC-8, StarDust wrote:
>> Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?
>>
>> TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.
>>
>> 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 obits 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.
>
>Hmm! I guess, it's true, after all!
>https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-lost-geomagnetic-storm#:~:text=The%20satellites%20launched%20on%20Feb,the%20storm%20a%20day%20later.&text=SpaceX%20is%20in%20the%20process,the%20fleet's%20launch%20last%20week.
>
>A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday (Feb. 3) from NASA's historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them.

Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 9:31:38 PM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
> On Tue, 8 Feb 2022 21:12:50 -0800 (PST),
> >On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 8:58:50 PM UTC-8, StarDust wrote:
> >> Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?
> >>
> >> TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.
> >>
> >> 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痴 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 obits 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痴 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葉o effectively 鍍ake cover from the storm迫and continued to work closely with the Space Force痴 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痴 atmosphere. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry洋eaning 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.
> >
> >Hmm! I guess, it's true, after all!
> >https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-lost-geomagnetic-storm#:~:text=The%20satellites%20launched%20on%20Feb,the%20storm%20a%20day%20later.&text=SpaceX%20is%20in%20the%20process,the%20fleet's%20launch%20last%20week.
> >
> >A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday (Feb. 3) from NASA's historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them.
> Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.

😎😁🤩

On Tue, 8 Feb 2022 21:35:09 -0800 (PST), StarDust <csoka01@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 9:31:38 PM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
>> On Tue, 8 Feb 2022 21:12:50 -0800 (PST),
>> >On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 8:58:50 PM UTC-8, StarDust wrote:
>> >> Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?
>> >>
>> >> TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.
>> >>
>> >> 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? 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 obits 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? 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?o effectively ?ake cover from the storm?and continued to work closely with the Space Force? 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? atmosphere. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry?eaning 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.
>> >
>> >Hmm! I guess, it's true, after all!
>> >https://www.space.com/spacex-starlink-satellites-lost-geomagnetic-storm#:~:text=The%20satellites%20launched%20on%20Feb,the%20storm%20a%20day%20later.&text=SpaceX%20is%20in%20the%20process,the%20fleet's%20launch%20last%20week.
>> >
>> >A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday (Feb. 3) from NASA's historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them.
>> Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.
>
>???

Re-entering space debris, because of its complex structure and low
speed, produces some pretty spectacular meteors.

On Wed, 9 Feb 2022 02:08:58 -0800 (PST), RichA <rander3128@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Tuesday, 8 February 2022 at 23:58:50 UTC-5, StarDust wrote:
>> Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?
>>
>> TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.
>>
>> 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 obits 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.
>
>His majesty won't be happy. Too bad it didn't de-orbit it, it's still a threat to the view of the the skies. Cue Musk's minions to decry this.

It is no threat. It is deorbiting itself.

On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 10:31:38 PM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:

> Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.

Just because Elon Musk has more money than I do, though, doesn't mean that
I want to see his money wasted. I find the waste of energy and materials sad,
and hope that we can avoid it in future through better prediction of space
weather.

John Savard

On Wed, 9 Feb 2022 09:07:46 -0800 (PST), Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca>
wrote:

>On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 10:31:38 PM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:
>
>> Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.
>
>Just because Elon Musk has more money than I do, though, doesn't mean that
>I want to see his money wasted. I find the waste of energy and materials sad,
>and hope that we can avoid it in future through better prediction of space
>weather.

I don't want to see waste, either. But 40 failures out of thousands of
successes is, I think, well ahead of average. Getting stuff into space
isn't risk free. I'd guess that a realistic understanding of their
success rate is part of the Spacelink business model.

On 2/9/22 05:08, RichA wrote:
> On Tuesday, 8 February 2022 at 23:58:50 UTC-5, StarDust wrote:
>> Got this off twitter, so not sure if it's true?
>>
>> TL;DR: a geomagnetic storm occurred and heated/thickened the atmosphere, causing some Starlink satellites to reenter and vaporize before they could climb to an orbit where they'd be subject to less drag.
>>
>> 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 obits 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.
>
> His majesty won't be happy. Too bad it didn't de-orbit it, it's still a threat to the view of the the skies. Cue Musk's minions to decry this.
irrelevant

Prime Minister Justin Blackface has just tweeted his condolences
So, How's that pretty picture astro photography horseshit® working out for
ya?
https://img.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeed-static/static/2016-11/28/15/asset/buzzfeed-prod-fastlane03/sub-buzz-24237-1480364284-1.png?downsize=700%3A%2A&output-quality=auto&output-format=auto

On Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 9:51:48 AM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
> On Wed, 9 Feb 2022 09:07:46 -0800 (PST), Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca>
> wrote:
> >On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 10:31:38 PM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:
> >
> >> Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.
> >
> >Just because Elon Musk has more money than I do, though, doesn't mean that
> >I want to see his money wasted. I find the waste of energy and materials sad,
> >and hope that we can avoid it in future through better prediction of space
> >weather.
> I don't want to see waste, either. But 40 failures out of thousands of
> successes is, I think, well ahead of average. Getting stuff into space
> isn't risk free. I'd guess that a realistic understanding of their
> success rate is part of the Spacelink business model.

40 for now!
I think, there's more to come in the long run!

On Wed, 9 Feb 2022 18:40:26 -0800 (PST), StarDust <csoka01@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 9:51:48 AM UTC-8, Chris L Peterson wrote:
>> On Wed, 9 Feb 2022 09:07:46 -0800 (PST), Quadibloc <jsa...@ecn.ab.ca>
>> wrote:
>> >On Tuesday, February 8, 2022 at 10:31:38 PM UTC-7, Chris L Peterson wrote:
>> >
>> >> Should produce some cool meteors. Maybe my cameras will catch one.
>> >
>> >Just because Elon Musk has more money than I do, though, doesn't mean that
>> >I want to see his money wasted. I find the waste of energy and materials sad,
>> >and hope that we can avoid it in future through better prediction of space
>> >weather.
>> I don't want to see waste, either. But 40 failures out of thousands of
>> successes is, I think, well ahead of average. Getting stuff into space
>> isn't risk free. I'd guess that a realistic understanding of their
>> success rate is part of the Spacelink business model.
>
>40 for now!
>I think, there's more to come in the long run!

No doubt. But not enough to impact the business. Or the service.