SpaceX Starlink Satellite Suffers Mysterious 'Anomaly' In Orbit (scientificamerican.com)
- Reference: 0181194724
- News link: https://tech.slashdot.org/story/26/03/31/2229204/spacex-starlink-satellite-suffers-mysterious-anomaly-in-orbit
- Source link: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spacex-starlink-satellite-suffers-mysterious-anomaly-in-orbit/
> The satellite lost communication at about 560 kilometers above Earth, Starlink [2]said . While the statement from Starlink, which is a subsidiary of Musk's rocket company SpaceX, merely noted that investigations are ongoing, LeoLabs [3]said its radar observations of the event indicated an "internal energetic source" as the likely cause rather than a collision.
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> The incident underscores the potential hazards of the increasingly large numbers of satellites and other spacecraft in low-Earth orbit -- some 10,000 Starlinks are currently in orbit and counting. Starlink's statement said that "the event poses no new risk" to the International Space Station or to the upcoming launch of NASA's Artemis II mission, targeted for April 1.
[1] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/spacex-starlink-satellite-suffers-mysterious-anomaly-in-orbit/
[2] https://x.com/Starlink/status/2038635185118588973
[3] https://x.com/LeoLabs_Space/status/2038680180755927475
Probably... (Score:2)
...somebody forgot his Samsung smartphone inside the satellite.
Re: (Score:2)
[1]An oldie but goodie [youtu.be].
[1] https://youtu.be/_GhODn4FRoE?si=_dXwIZ9poXQnU-Ut
In space, no one can hear you RUD. (Score:2)
> A Starlink satellite broke apart in orbit after suffering an unexplained "anomaly," apparently due to an "internal energetic source" rather than a collision.
SpaceX seems to have a lot of euphemisms for "exploded". :-)
Andromeda Strain (Score:2)
I've seen this movie before...
"Exploded". (Score:2)
"Simple, honest, direct language." - George Carlin
Internal ? Form radar ? (Score:2)
"LeoLabs said its radar observations of the event indicated an "internal energetic source" as the likely cause rather than a collision."
How would radar be able to distinguish between a tiny energetic mass impacting a tank on the satellite and an "internal energetic source" being the cause ?
Directed microwave attack? (Score:2)
That feels like it would do it. Or a L.A.Z.O.RRR.
If you can turn that into an Atari Missile Command type game, with Elon's face getting a little sadder with every detonation, I will play.
Elon's achievements include, making it easier to target and kill people and [1] arbitrarily turning that off [wikipedia.org] when your life depends on it.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starlink_in_the_Russo-Ukrainian_war#:~:text=Communications%20black-outs%20happened%20in,%22catastrophic%22%20losses%20of%20communication.
Here it comes (Score:2)
Might this be patient zero for kessler syndrome?
Re: (Score:1)
Some researchers do think we are actually pretty close to a kessler event from musks increasingly rampant space polution.
With that said, if it happens, it wont be long term. The LEO orbit they take means the sky will mostly clear up in well under a decade with most of the debris having deorbited in around 5 years.
I wont even speculate on the sort of havok Elon musks fantastical and unlikely space datacenters would create.
Re: (Score:2)
"Some researchers do think" == "What follows is some stupid shit I just made up"
Re: (Score:2)
its Betteridge's Law of Headlines, not Betteridge's Law of any Question Whatsoever.
Re: Betteridge says "no" (Score:2)
It was just a single line below the headline so I'll allow it
Re: (Score:2)
Starlink is pretty low in orbit, so that may be a mitigating factor. Now, something higher up would be a problem, especially geosync sats.
Re: (Score:2)
Maybe an anti-satellite missile test.
But probably just a bog standard bit of debris hitting it.
Re: (Score:2)
This is not a problem for very low earth orbit.
Lifetime vs Orbital Height Ballistic Coefficient m/(Cd*A) = 166.67 kg/m^2
mean lifetime @ 400 km initial height is 110 days, maximum is 7 years
Re: (Score:2)
No. One of the benefits of the orbit for Starlink is that it is well within the drag of the earth's atmosphere. That's one of the reason these satellites have only a 5 year life time anyway, without any propulsion they drop into the atmosphere and burn up.
These particulates will be short lived, and even if they take out all satellites in their orbit in a chain reaction, the impact will be at most a couple of years.