A day after they were launched into orbit last week, the majority of satellites launched by SpaceX were rendered useless by a serious solar storm, Reuters reports. Of the 49 satellites launched to be part of the Starlink internet communications network, 40 of them were destroyed in what is thought to be the largest single day loss of orbiting electronics in history.
In orbit 130 miles above Earth, the satellites were hit with a power geomagnetic blast on February 4th. The US Space Weather Prediction Center had issued a warning for a “geomagnetic storm watch” for the two days prior to the SpaceX rocket launch.
The storm caused density in the low Earth orbital space where the satellites were released to increase significantly, causing drag and friction for the satellites, causing significant damage.