Dying Starlink satellites falls back to earth startling stargazers

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Published  November 11, 2024 8:22pm EST
FOX 35 Orlando
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Dying Starlink satellite falls back to earth

Falling Starlink satellites shocked stargazers across the United States over the weekend. In four minutes, the de-orbiting satellite shot across the U.S., from Washington to Texas. It caught many off guard who tried to figure out what it was.

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. - Falling Starlink satellites shocked stargazers across the United States over the weekend. 

In four minutes, the de-orbiting satellite shot across the U.S., from Washington to Texas. It caught many off guard who tried to figure out what it was. 

"Wow!," exclaimed Lori Kinard, who shared video of the satellite falling with FOX 35. 

She filmed and took photos of the fireballs lighting up the sky over North Texas on Saturday night around 10 p.m.

"I had never seen anything like it," she said. 

Kinard wasn’t quite sure what she had seen. She quickly posted her video on Facebook and others chimed in. 

She says, "alien, transformers" and "meteor shower" were some of the responses she got. 

Those were good guesses, but space experts say this is actually a SpaceX Starlink satellite falling from space.

"It’s going more slowly. It’s multiple chunks, it moves across the sky in this stately way. It’s really easy to tell that’s space debris and not a meteor," said Smithsonian Observatory astronomer Jonathan McDowell.

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McDowell shared a map on X of the satellite’s track over the U.S. over the weekend going from Washington State to Texas. 

The expert says this is intentional, and this is how SpaceX retires old Starlink satellites. 

"Starlink 4682 was heading southeast over the Pacific coast from Washington," said the astronomer. 

Sights like this are also highlighting new concerns about how re-entry could affect the upper atmosphere.

"We’re using the upper atmosphere as an incinerator for our old tech that we’re throwing away," said McDowell. 

SpaceX says their satellites should completely burn up on the descent, and space fans hope this won't be the last re-entry they'll see for themselves. 

"Really awesome experience," concluded Kinard. 

McDowell says we used to see about one Starlink reenter Earth's atmosphere a week. Now, we’re seeing this happen every day. 

People are talking about it this time around because the re-entry was so visible. It happened at night and took place in the U.S. instead of another country. 

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