A recently launched Starlink satellite has fallen back to Earth. This comes after more than 40 Starlink satellites fell from the sky after launch by SpaceX on February 2022 due to an unexpected solar storm.
Starlink are constellation satellites operated by US billionaire and entrepreneur Elon Musk’s SpaceX to provide satellite Internet coverage to over 50 countries.
Starlink is expected to be soon serving the GCC through a partnership between France-based global satellite service operator, IEC Telecom and UAE-based Thuraya, to offer a range of maritime vessel on-board communication options.
The partnership, according to Nabil Ben Soussia, Chief Commercial Officer, IEC Telecom Group could revolutionise the region’s agriculture and maritime sector operations, as well as speed up rescue and rehabilitation operations in disaster-struck areas such as Turkey-Syria.
“Each application will be optimised to consume up to 10 times less bandwidth,” Ben Soussia told DefSec Middle East’s sister publication Arabian Business on 30 March..
The satellite designated as 30062 re-entered Earth’s atmosphere on 3 April at 12:50 pm UAE time off the coast of California, according to Harvard-Smithsonian astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
The satellite is believed to be one of 56 Starlink satellites delivered on 29 March into the company’s global internet constellation after the lift-off of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Florida.
On 27 February SpaceX launched another 21 Starlink satellites on board a Falcon 9 rocket. After the launch, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter and said that the satellites were “experiencing some issues” and that some of them will be deorbited while others would still be tested.
As of February 2023, Starlink consists of 4,217 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit which communicate with designated ground transceivers. 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000 according to SpaceX.
