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Elon Musk Loses Millions After 40 SpaceX Satellites Destroyed By Space Storm

Home> News

Updated 20:58 9 Feb 2022 GMTPublished 20:53 9 Feb 2022 GMT

Elon Musk Loses Millions After 40 SpaceX Satellites Destroyed By Space Storm

According to SpaceX, the storm reportedly caused 'atmospheric drag' which prevented the satellites from reaching their orbit

Anish Vij

Anish Vij

Elon Musk's SpaceX has lost millions of pounds after a geomagnetic space storm wiped out up to 40 new Starlink satellites.

It's believed that up to 40 of the 49 small satellites that were launched on 3 February have re-entered the Earth's atmosphere and burned up.

A SpaceX statement read: "Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday.

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"These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase."

The company says the dense atmosphere contributed to the increased drag on the compact satellites.

They claim that the atmospheric pull was too strong while the satellites were unable to reach a stable enough state of orbit.

SpaceX added: "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."

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In what hasn't been a good week for Musk, the student who has been tracking Elon Musk's private jet has turned down yet another offer to give it up.

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 49 Starlink satellites took off last Thursday.
Alamy

A few months ago, Jack Sweeney set up the Twitter account @ElonJet, which regularly posts updates of the tech billionaire's private plane.

The 19-year-old created over a dozen bots, which use ADS-B data to monitor Musk's movements, as well as other billionaires like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, posting photos of the jet's whereabouts to the site.

At the time, Sweeney said to The Guardian: "I asked for $50,000, he said 'thinking about it,' then after a while last week he said 'I don't think it's right to pay to take this down,' and just the other night he blocked me.

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"I asked for 50 grand, because it would help for college and I also thought it would be cool if I could buy a Tesla, you know like a Model 3 or something."

Well, the teenager has now rejected the advances of entrepreneur Scott Painter, who offered him a £45,000 Tesla Model 3 in exchange for deleting it.

Painter wrote: "Hey @JxckSweeney, I DO NOT have a dog in this fight BUT if what you *really* want is a Tesla Model 3 - I DO have one that you can drive! Want to make a trade?

"Here is the offer. Shut down @ElonJet et al IN EXCHANGE @Drive_Autonomy will give you a Model 3 subscription."

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Replying to the offer, Sweeney said: "I told you I'm not interested in a subscription besides, there are numerous facts that suggest this is in conjunction with Elon.

"I want my own car. I don't want to have to give it back in three years. If I got an actual Tesla, then I would take it down."

Featured Image Credit: Alamy

Topics: Elon Musk

Anish Vij
Anish Vij

Anish is a Journalist at LADbible Group and is a GG2 Young Journalist of the Year 2025. He has a Master's degree in Multimedia Journalism and a Bachelor's degree in International Business Management. Apart from that, his life revolves around the ‘Four F’s’ - family, friends, football and food. Email: [email protected]

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@Anish_Vij

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