A powerful geomagnetic storm caused disruptions in the satellite division of SpaceX.
On Saturday, May 11, Starlink satellites lost the ability to provide stable Internet communication service due to a powerful geomagnetic storm caused by the largest solar activity in the last two decades.
This was reported by Reuters with reference to the website of Elon Musk's SpaceX company.
In an earlier post on Platform X, Musk said that the Starlink satellites are under severe pressure due to a geomagnetic storm, but are holding up for now.
Starlink owns approximately 60% of the approximately 7,500 satellites orbiting the Earth and is the dominant player in the satellite Internet. In particular, the terminals of this network are used by the Ukrainian military on the front line while deterring Russian aggression.
Thousands of Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit use inter-satellite laser links to transmit data between themselves in space at the speed of light, allowing the network to offer internet coverage around the world.
The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said today that the geomagnetic storm is the largest since October 2003 and will likely continue through the weekend, posing a risk to navigation systems, power grids and satellite navigation.
Recall that the NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft has been observing the giant sunspot AR3664 for more than three days. This area of increased activity is now 15 times the size of our planet and continues to grow.
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