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SpaceX Starlink satellites.
SpaceX has lost communication with a Starlink satellite on orbit following a March 29 anomaly, the company disclosed on social media March 30.
SpaceX identified the satellite as Starlink 34343. Real-time satellite tracking site satellitemap.space notes this spacecraft was launched as part of Group 17-1 on May 27 on a Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg SFB, California.
Space tracking company LeoLabs detected “tens of objects” in the vicinity of the satellite following the anomaly event using its global radar network. It characterized the event in a social media post as “likely caused by an internal energetic source,” predicting that associated fragments will likely deorbit within several weeks.
The SpaceX and Starlink teams are working to determine the root cause of the anomaly. They have denied any risk to the International Space Station (ISS) or upcoming NASA Artemis II mission. The March 30 Transporter-16 launch from Vandenberg was also unaffected by the event, as the mission was designed to avoid Starlink with payload deployments “well above or well below the constellation,” SpaceX’s statement said.
The Starlink broadband constellation recently surpassed 10,000 satellites in low Earth orbit, hitting the milestone after launching Starlink group 17-24 on March 17 from Vandenberg. SpaceX has experienced the loss of Starlink spacecraft on orbit before, including one disclosed in December that involved some space debris and tumbling.
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