According to June 8, the "Starlink" satellites launched by Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technology Company fell one after another. A research team led by physicist Danny Oliveira of the Goddard Space Center of NASA conducted a study on the "satellite rain."
Space Exploration Technology Company launched the Starlink satellite for the first time in 2019, and a satellite fell in 2020. But given the huge number of Starlink satellites launched by Musk, the initial number of falls is still within a reasonable range. Only two satellites fell in 2020. But in 2021, the number of falls soared to 78. In the following two years, the number of falling satellites has basically remained at this level (99 fell in 2022 and 88 fell in 2023). But last year, things changed strangely: 316 satellites burned in the atmosphere. So far, Starlink has lost 583 satellites. About one out of every 15 satellites falls. What exactly happened?
▲Data picture: On June 23, 2024, photos taken in Encinitas, California, USA showed that the "Falcon 9" rocket equipped with the "Starlink" satellite was launched from the Vandenberg Space Force Base. (Xinhua News Agency)
Source: Reference Message
