That’s according to the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, which said pilots reported radio interference across the United States between noon and 2PM ET on December 14th. The current solar cycle is stronger than expected, making disruptions like this more likely, but the NOAA forecasts an October 2024 peak, a year earlier than originally predicted. Anyway, here’s a NASA GIF of the eruption.
Do these correlate with a higher loss rate of LEO’s like Starlink?
Yes and no. Starlink’s loss rate has to do with their two step launch process. For cost reasons, they launch a bunch of satellites to an initial altitude of much lower than LEO, typically between 200-300 km. At these altitudes, satellite drag is high and gets higher with solar activity. Then they use fuel to propel them into their operational orbit. This worked fine during solar minimum when space weather activity is low. However, as we approach solar max, this method will continue to cause more losses because of higher space weather activity. The February, 2022 incident when they lost 38 satellites was due to a moderate geomagnetic storm should have been a wake up call. That storm wasn’t even that big. If they continue to launch using this method over the next few years as we reach solar max, they will continue to lose more satellites.