SpaceX losing Starlink satellites due to geomagnetic space storm

Elon Musk’s SpaceX expects to lose nearly an entire launch’s worth of Starlink satellites after a storm created by the sun struck the Earth’s atmosphere.

The company launched 49 Starlink satellites with a Falcon 9 rocket on Feb. 3. The mission was successful in delivering the batch of satellites to orbit, but disaster struck the next day.

A geomagnetic storm disturbed the Earth’s atmosphere. The Starlink satellites were in a low orbit, and the company said “up to 40 of the satellites” will be lost because of the storm, burning up in the Earth’s atmosphere.

Starlink is the company’s plan to build an…