A second Starlink satellite exploded in orbit

(twitter.com)

30 points | by wmf 5 hours ago

6 comments

  • kelnos 3 hours ago
  • bombcar 40 minutes ago
    Filing “fragment creation event” alongside “rapid unintended disassembly”.
  • porphyra 4 hours ago
    Fortunately,

    > Due to the low altitude of the event, fragments from this anomaly will likely de-orbit within a few weeks.

  • cozzyd 1 hour ago
    Tubes must have gotten clogged
  • heyitsmedotjayb 4 hours ago
    Do they have pressurized gas/liquid onboard that could explode or is this most likely a collision?
    • wmf 3 hours ago
      They have argon gas for the ion thrusters that adjust the orbits.
    • verdverm 4 hours ago
      If it were a collision, it would be far more noteworthy and likely in the title
  • metalman 2 hours ago
    if, just saying, someone had a huge fucking laser and wanted something to plink away at, and happened to look up at night, most anywhere on the planet, ran the numbers and figured the odds, and well elo's stuff does blow up regularly
    • DarmokJalad1701 1 hour ago
      > and well elo's stuff does blow up regularly

      [citations needed]

    • NetMageSCW 1 hour ago
      Really? How many Starlink satellites have blown up? How many F9 second stages?
      • altairprime 39 minutes ago
        There are a lot of better ways to present your point; for example:

        How many batteries supplied with Elon Musk’s companies’ products have encountered an unplanned combustion event after light or no damage?

        Does SpaceX use in-house or third-party batteries in their satellites?

        Is their explosion rate of 2(?) per N, where N is the number of unexploded SpaceX satellites, plausibly still within the statistical ranges defined by non-SpaceX satellites given the data available to us?

        Did the satellite deflect before it exploded or are the shard trajectories consistent with a zero-impact scenario?

        etc.