SpaceX is experiencing a surge in Starlink satellite re-entries, with four to five satellites incinerating daily. While these Gen-1 satellites are being retired to make room for newer models, the process is releasing significant amounts of aluminum oxide into the atmosphere, potentially damaging the ozone layer and creating an uncontrolled atmospheric chemistry experiment.
James Kaufman, World News Report, today, February 7th, 2025.
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SpaceX Starlink satellite re-entries surge,
four or five a day.
What goes up must come down.
Which would be a problem when you're launching thousands of satellites.
Since 2018, SpaceX has placed more than 7,000
Starlink satellites into Earth's low orbit,
and now they're starting to come down.
In January alone, more than 120
SpaceX Starlink satellites de-orbited.
This is getting dangerous.
The sustained rate of daily re-entries is unprecedented,
says Jonathan McDowell, an
astronomer at the Harvard Center for Astrophysics,
who tracks satellites.
They are retiring and incinerating about four
or five Starlink satellites every day.
Planners have long known this would happen.
First-generation Gen-1 Starlink satellites
are being retired to make way for newer models.
More than 500 of the new 4,700 Gen-1 Starlinks have
now re-entered Earth's atmosphere, says McDowell.
When Starlink satellites re-enter,
they disintegrate before hitting the ground.
Adding metallic vapors to the atmosphere,
a study published in 2023 found evidence of the lingering debris.
In February 2023, NASA flew a WB-57 aircraft
60,000 feet over Alaska to collect aerosols.
10% of the particles collected contained aluminum
and other metals all from these
burned up satellites.
What we're observing is a giant uncontrolled experiment in atmospheric
chemistry. The demise of just one gen 1 starlink
satellite produces about 30 kilograms or 66 pounds
Aluminum Oxide
A compound that eats away at the ozone layer,
a new study finds these oxides have increased
eightfold between 2016 and 2022.
The recent surge is increasing the pollution even more.
On the bright side, each re-entry produces a beautiful fireball,
and the odds are increasing
That you'll see one very soon.
Visit the Aerospace Corporation for re-entry predictions.
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