CAPE CANAVERAL, FLORIDA, UNITED STATES - 2022/02/03: People watch from Canaveral National Seashore as a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The rocket is carrying 49 Starlink internet s CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - SpaceX says a geomagnetic storm damaged the latest batch of Starlink internet satellites, keeping most of them from making the proper orbit.The 49 satellites were launched on Feb.
3 aboard a Falcon 9 rocket from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, programmed to slowly climb to their intended orbit. Everything looked good until the next day, when a sudden geomagnetic storm warmed the upper atmosphere, increasing the atmospheric density.SpaceX said the Starlink team tried to program the satellites to fly in safe mode, effectively to help them "take cover from the storm." However, the increased drag from the thicker atmosphere took its toll on the satellites. RELATED: Liftoff!
SpaceX successfully launches latest Starlink missionA perfect launch to start the year for SpaceX. A Falcon 9 rocket will carry a batch of Starlink satellites into orbit from the Kennedy Space Center's pad 39A.