According to ripleys, Instead, video captured the wild visual aftermath of a geomagnetic storm that knocked 40 Starlink satellites out of Earth’s orbit. Designed to stay low in the atmosphere, this characteristic allowed for the satellites to be easily wrangled in case of failure. However, this orbital range also left them vulnerable to a geomagnetic storm, as the recent display over the “Island of Enchantment” so aptly demonstrated.  

The first Starlink satellites launched in 2019. Since that time, the company headed by billionaire CEO Elon Musk has rocketed an additional 2,000 gadgets into the night sky. All told, the company has ambitious goals for the future, eventually planning to fill the atmosphere above Earth with a total of 42,000 satellites. The mega-constellation created by this endeavor will provide customers with high-speed, low-latency internet access worldwide, according to Starlink’s website.