It almost destroyed it.. The Earth witnessed the largest mass satellite maneuver in history

2024-07-29 2024-07-29T18:07:48Z

Weather of Arabia - The head of the Physics Department at Al-Balqa Applied University, Professor Ali Al-Ta'ani, said that last May of this year, the Earth witnessed the largest mass satellite maneuver in history due to a strong solar storm .

Infrared observational data taken from NASA's TIMED spacecraft showed that more than 5,000 spacecraft and satellites were forced to change their course to maintain their altitude and avoid being attracted to Earth as a result of the geomagnetic storm that pushed the satellites downward, which could have led to their collapse. In the atmosphere. A geomagnetic storm means a coronal mass ejection and solar winds carrying energy from the surface of the Sun hitting the Earth's atmosphere.

Al-Ta'ani continued:

“Most of the affected satellites were SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. But they were equipped with GNSS receivers and autonomous collision avoidance capabilities, enabling them to perform an automated maneuver when sensing the impact of the storm.”

A massive solar storm last May

In May, a massive solar storm lit up the night sky with colorful displays of the aurora borealis, sending thousands of satellites into an urgent maneuver to maintain their altitude amid a sudden density of the upper atmosphere.

The intensity of the solar storm, which struck Earth between May 7 and 10, reached G5, the highest level on a five-step scale used by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to rate the strength of solar storms. This storm was the strongest since 2003.

“The May 2024 geomagnetic storm was the first major storm to occur during a new paradigm in low-Earth orbit satellite operations dominated by small commercial satellites,” researchers William Parker and Richard Linares of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported.

Solar storms, caused by massive explosions from the Sun, disturb the Earth's magnetic field and as a result, charged solar particles penetrate deep into the Earth's atmosphere where they interact with air molecules, creating the spectacular northern lights and southern lights (aurora borealis) and may affect communications.

The main reason for this maneuver

Al-Ta'ani explained that the main reason for this maneuver is the sudden increase in the volume of the Earth's atmosphere, which absorbed a huge amount of energy from the solar storm, which led to its swelling and increase in size, thus increasing its ability to pull the moons towards the Earth.

The storm's peak power reached 2.6 terawatts, enough energy to power a house for 10 million years. Al-Taani pointed out that solar storms are not new. Similar storms have occurred in the past, such as the Halloween storms of 2003, but their impact was less. Since there were fewer than 1,000 satellites at the time, it did not require a large group maneuver as occurred last May.

Al-Taani added that the geomagnetic storm in May was part of solar cycle No. 25, and was the first major solar storm to hit Earth in the era of low-Earth orbit satellites dominated by small commercial satellites. Since the launch of Starlink satellites in 2019, the number of active satellites has increased to more than 15,000, making mass maneuvers a major challenge for satellite operators.

Statistics indicate that there are more than 900 new satellites launched every year. Such large solar storms are expected to recur as part of solar cycle 25, which began in 2022 and is expected to continue until 2025.

It is noteworthy that the solar cycle is a period that repeats approximately every 11 years and witnesses an increase and decrease in solar activity. The peak of solar cycle 25 shows increased sunspot activity and solar flares, increasing the possibility of powerful solar events.