Fireball in the Sky: SpaceX Satellite’s Fiery Re-Entry Seen Over Four U.S. States
Science/Medical/Technology
Yesterday
On Saturday night, the 9th of November 2024, a brilliant fireball blazed through the skies across several U.S. states, prompting dozens of reports from witnesses who believed they had seen a meteor. However, experts have since identified the phenomenon as the fiery re-entry of a SpaceX Starlink satellite, illuminating the skies over Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Oklahoma shortly after 4 AM (10 PM Central Standard Time (CST)).
The American Meteor Society received 36 reports of the bright fireball, with most sightings near Oklahoma City and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But contrary to initial assumptions, the blazing object was not a meteor at all. Astronomers believe the fireball was actually a disintegrating satellite from SpaceX’s Starlink fleet, launched in 2022.
The satellite, designated Starlink-4682, was part of SpaceX’s Starlink 4-23 mission, which launched a set of 54 satellites into space roughly two years ago. According to astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Starlink-4682 reentered Earth’s atmosphere, creating a path over Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oklahoma. McDowell shared his findings on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on 10 November, noting that “many people have reported seeing it”.
Witnesses described the object as a fireball that broke up into smaller fiery fragments as it descended. Such re-entries are not rare for Starlink satellites, which operate in low Earth orbit. The drag from Earth’s atmosphere gradually pulls them downward over time, causing them to burn up upon reentry.
“[A Starlink satellite] comes back into the atmosphere nearly every day”, McDowell mentioned in a recent statement to Space.com. “Sometimes multiple [satellites]”.
SpaceX has launched thousands of Starlink satellites to provide global broadband coverage, sending new batches into orbit nearly every week. However, the frequent re-entry of these satellites has raised environmental concerns among scientists. As satellites disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere, they release aluminium oxide, a substance that some researchers argue could harm the ozone layer.
“If we don’t do anything, we will see the impact globally within the next 10 years”, warned Minkwan Kim, an associate professor of astronautics at the University of Southampton, speaking to Space.com. Kim and other environmental scientists argue that these reentries might not only damage the ozone layer but could also alter sunlight reflection, affecting the upper atmosphere’s temperature balance.
SpaceX has not issued a specific response to these concerns, but the increasing frequency of satellite re-entries has prompted both astronomers and environmentalists to call for further research into the effects on Earth’s atmosphere.
The Starlink project, which aims to provide high-speed internet to underserved and remote regions globally, currently operates in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has deployed over 4,000 Starlink satellites so far, with plans for thousands more. While low Earth orbit enables efficient satellite function, it also means a relatively short operational lifespan as atmospheric drag eventually causes each satellite to reenter and burn up.
As more satellites are deployed and atmospheric re-entries increase, the potential cumulative impact on the environment may warrant regulatory oversight or the development of new standards for responsible satellite management in low Earth orbit.
The American Meteor Society received 36 reports of the bright fireball, with most sightings near Oklahoma City and the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But contrary to initial assumptions, the blazing object was not a meteor at all. Astronomers believe the fireball was actually a disintegrating satellite from SpaceX’s Starlink fleet, launched in 2022.
The satellite, designated Starlink-4682, was part of SpaceX’s Starlink 4-23 mission, which launched a set of 54 satellites into space roughly two years ago. According to astronomer Jonathan McDowell of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, Starlink-4682 reentered Earth’s atmosphere, creating a path over Idaho, Wyoming, Colorado, and Oklahoma. McDowell shared his findings on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) on 10 November, noting that “many people have reported seeing it”.
Witnesses described the object as a fireball that broke up into smaller fiery fragments as it descended. Such re-entries are not rare for Starlink satellites, which operate in low Earth orbit. The drag from Earth’s atmosphere gradually pulls them downward over time, causing them to burn up upon reentry.
“[A Starlink satellite] comes back into the atmosphere nearly every day”, McDowell mentioned in a recent statement to Space.com. “Sometimes multiple [satellites]”.
SpaceX has launched thousands of Starlink satellites to provide global broadband coverage, sending new batches into orbit nearly every week. However, the frequent re-entry of these satellites has raised environmental concerns among scientists. As satellites disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere, they release aluminium oxide, a substance that some researchers argue could harm the ozone layer.
“If we don’t do anything, we will see the impact globally within the next 10 years”, warned Minkwan Kim, an associate professor of astronautics at the University of Southampton, speaking to Space.com. Kim and other environmental scientists argue that these reentries might not only damage the ozone layer but could also alter sunlight reflection, affecting the upper atmosphere’s temperature balance.
SpaceX has not issued a specific response to these concerns, but the increasing frequency of satellite re-entries has prompted both astronomers and environmentalists to call for further research into the effects on Earth’s atmosphere.
The Starlink project, which aims to provide high-speed internet to underserved and remote regions globally, currently operates in low Earth orbit. SpaceX has deployed over 4,000 Starlink satellites so far, with plans for thousands more. While low Earth orbit enables efficient satellite function, it also means a relatively short operational lifespan as atmospheric drag eventually causes each satellite to reenter and burn up.
As more satellites are deployed and atmospheric re-entries increase, the potential cumulative impact on the environment may warrant regulatory oversight or the development of new standards for responsible satellite management in low Earth orbit.
