According to the calculation of IEEE Spectrum, there is a 45% probability that Elon Musk’s Starlink Satellite may kill someone in the coming days because Elon Musk sent 21 Mini-V2 Starlink Satellites into the lowest orbit of the Earth. It has started to fall. One of these Starlink satellites has burned up in the Earth’s atmosphere like an asteroid. And the remaining 14 Starlink satellites are also on the way.
Elon Musk Starlink Satellite
This is not happening for the first time. In 2022, Elon Musk sent 49 Starlink satellites into Earth orbit, out of which 40 satellites were destroyed by falling on the earth. Since 2019, more than 300 of Elon Musk’s Starlink satellites have crashed on Earth. If this satellite is getting destroyed even after repeated attempts, then there must be some logical problems behind it. Which Elon Musk should have solved by now but it is not happening, probably there will be major reasons behind it which Elon Musk does not want to reveal.
Why Elon Musk Start Project
So basically, the US military used this concept of satellites under the Star War program for the defense of the cold war. In 1993, this program was rejected, but after 22 years, Elon Musk decided to start this project again. But Elon had something else in mind, the Starlink Satellite Constellation. Elon Musk said that this work will not be for any military, its work will be to deliver internet in rural areas.
Elon Musk is sending a batch of about 40 satellites into space every month, which are connected to each other by a laser. Which looks like a constellation when viewed from an earth. Starlink Satellite is also working like Geosynchronous Satellite. But what is so special about them that they do not have?
Geosynchronous and Starlink Satellites
Geosynchronous satellites revolve 36,000 km from the earth while Starlink satellites revolve in low earth orbit with a distance of 160 km to 200 km from the earth.
Geosynchronous Satellites can provide internet to all users simultaneously compared to Starlink Satellite. But the bandwidth of Geosynchronous Satellite is divided among so many people, but it slows down the Internet speed due to which it takes a lot of time to send data to Geosynchronous Satellite. It is very easy to use, it is easy to install an antenna on the roof of your house, then this antenna automatically tracks the Geosynchronous Satellite and gives you internet connection.
Elon Musk has claimed that his satellite also has an auto dodge feature. This means that if one of the Starlink satellites is damaged, the rest of the Starlink satellites will leave the side instead of colliding with it.
Why Starlink Satellite Drop Down on Earth
SpaceX’s Starlink Satellites is designed so that when the satellite is done, it will fall down on its own. Elon Musk has claimed that no humans will be hurt because of this, as they will burn up in the Earth’s atmosphere before hitting Earth.
But one thing is strange here, the duration of these satellites is 5 to 6 years, so how can it burn and turn into ashes within a month. Many people here and I as an astronomer think that there is something wrong with the design of SpaceX. The crash of 40 satellites in February 2022 was clearly due to the carelessness of SpaceX engineers. A few days before the launch of these Starlink satellite, a Coronal Mass Ejection took place on the Sun, which generated plasma waves.
These plasma waves could have damaged SpaceX’s Starlinks satellites. Meanwhile, SpaceX called for a report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on the sea island, which came back negative, due to which SpaceX admitted that there is no danger to the Starlink Satellite.
SpaceX scientists ignored the report from NOAA and prepared their own report, which also came negative, due to which SpaceX scientists launched the Starlinks satellite into space without changing it. Starlink is a LEO satellite that orbits in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. They are designed to overcome the drag created by Atmospheric Friction.
Due to the plasma waves, the atmosphere friction drag turned out to be 50% higher than the SpaceX engineer’s calculation. Due to which the Starlinks satellites started falling one by one. Due to plasma waves, Starlinks satellites deorbited and fell to earth.
MINI V2 Satellite
The reason for the crash of this satellite is a technical problem. Elon Musk is now planning to increase the number of Starlink satellite. The reason behind this is money because there is more profit in this satellite than crashing it. Because it runs from 20 to 100 MBPS for $120. And this satellite can provide internet to 400 users at a time, which will give SpaceX $576,000 in annual income.
