SpaceX is going through a tough time as a geomagnetic storm, caused by a huge radiation burst from the sun, disabled at least 40 of its 49 satellites. These satellites were launched by SpaceX as a part of its “Starlink Internet Communications Network” project.
With 40 disabled satellites, the aerospace company founded by Elon Musk nearly lost an entire launch of Starlink Satellites, marking this the largest collective loss of satellites from a single geomagnetic event.
Though SpaceX did not disclose its financial hit, it is predicted at least $20 million has been wiped out after the storm. It must be noted, SpaceX had allotted a sizable investment of at least $20 to $30 billion to this project.
SpaceX wrote on their website that the storm hit the satellites on February 4th, a day after Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
SpaceX has launched more than 2000 Starlink satellites into space to date, out of which at least 1900 are currently functioning.
