Solar Storm Fireballs Elon Musk’s 40 Satellites

American billionaire businessman Elon Musk’s space agency SpaceX has suffered a major setback. SpaceX’s new batch of satellites turned into a ball of fire after being hit by a solar storm. Many of these satellites attempted to enter the Earth’s atmosphere. Which turned into a ball of fire due to the friction of the atmosphere.

What are Solar storms or flares?

• Solar storms are magnetic plasma, which are ejected at great speed from solar surface.
• They occur during the release of magnetic energy, which is associated with sunspots (dark regions on the Sun). It can last for a few minutes or hours.

How solar flares impact Earth?

• Most of the Solar flares do not reach to the Earth. However, solar flares/storms, high-speed solar winds, solar energetic particles (SEPs), and coronal mass ejections (CMEs), coming closer to the Earth can impact upper atmosphere space and near-Earth space.

What are services hit by Solar storms?

• Solar storms can hit operations of space-dependent services including global positioning systems (GPS), satellite communications and radio. Geomagnetic storms interfere with GPS navigation systems and high-frequency radio communications.
• It can also impact power grids, aircraft flights, and space exploration programmes.

How scientists predict solar storms?

• Solar physicists and other scientists use computer models for predicting solar activities and solar storms in general.
• However, with increasing global dependence on satellites for almost every activity, we need a better space weather forecasts and more effective ways for protecting satellites.