A recent lights show appeared over the sky over the weekend and many people thought that it was a meteorite entering a planet, but no, it was later identified to be SpaceX's Starlink internet satellite. The public was surprised by a seemingly heavenly body making a special appearance overhead, with some thinking that it was a light show from the cosmos, with the American Meteor Society claiming that it was a satellite.
That being said, what the public witnessed last weekend was how a SpaceX Starlink satellite would break up into multiple pieces as it reenters the Earth's atmosphere, with its debris no longer reaching land.
The American Meteor Society (AMS) recently received over 36 reports from people in the Midwest and Southwest regions of the country, claiming that there has been a bright lights show occurring overhead. Many thought this to be a meteor exploding in space and featured a lights show for stargazers to marvel at, but it was later revealed that this was SpaceX's Starlink satellite.
Additionally, an astrophysicist, Jonathan McDowell, previously shared on X that it was indeed SpaceX's satellite, particularly Starlink-4682, which is already a two-year-old orbiting spacecraft that was initially launched last August 2022.
The witnesses claimed that the object first lit up at a 'slow' pace, and later split into three parts, then finally 'exploded' into multiple bright pieces that were evident from the ground, lighting up the night sky.
While there are no statements yet from SpaceX, Starlink previously said that its satellites are "fully demisable" in their design, and this means that when it re-enters the atmosphere, it will break into many pieces and safely burn up overhead.
The company regarded that its satellites were designed this way with safety as its priority, and will not have its debris or remaining pieces fall onto the ground, hitting humans or structures as they disintegrate in the skies.
SpaceX has long planned for its Starlink to deliver satellite internet capabilities for users, centering on multiple launches over the past years to create a massive network that will help expand connections to the world. This constellation of satellites has grown massive over the many missions that the company launched to the low-Earth orbit, all looking to bring global access to its service.
The company's satellites fly over their serviced location multiple times a day, as it completes a full Earth orbit in around 90 minutes, but spread out over time so this may take longer than usual. This, in turn, ensures that users get satellite internet service that is beamed to receivers that promise high-speed connections, especially to places where terrestrial connections are unavailable.
The technology by SpaceX proved to be significantly beneficial to areas or regions that do not see infrastructures yet because of the challenge of installing towers, or troubled areas like Ukraine, Gaza, and the recent onslaught of hurricanes in the country. A recent incident saw one Starlink satellite burn up after it reentered the Earth's atmosphere, demonstrating its safety when disintegrating, with no pieces reaching the surface.