Both the night sky and the expanse of space that surrounds the Earth are forecasted to undergo significant shifts in the course of the 2020s and 2030s in comparison to how they have always appeared throughout the entirety of human existence. Since 2019, it was anticipated that humanity had successfully launched between 8,000 and 9,000 satellites in total, with roughly 2,000 of those satellites still operational, the majority of which were located in low-Earth orbit. The human race is about to enter the era of satellite mega-constellations as a result of the current race that is taking place among numerous firms to give worldwide 5G coverage from space. The most notable company in this race is Elon Musk and SpaceX’s Starlink, which possesses by far the most satellites.

However, Elon Musk says a catastrophe is lurking over its mega constellation of satellites. And he also warned us of an imminent crisis coming our way. What could this be?

When viewed from afar, the sun may appear to be unchanging and stable. When you zoom in, though, you can see that our home star is actually in a constant state of change. Over the course of time, it has transformed from a consistent sea of fire into a chaotic mess of distorted plasma and back again in a cycle that repeats itself.

The magnetic field of the sun becomes tangled up around once every 11 years or so, like a ball of tightly wrapped rubber bands, until it eventually snaps and completely flips, changing the north pole into the south pole and vice versa. This process occurs approximately once every 11 years. In the time leading up to this massive flip, the Sun will ramp up its activity, which will include spitting out blazing blobs of plasma, creating black patches the size of planets, and emitting intense streams of radiation.

This period of increased activity, known as solar maximum, is also known as a potentially dangerous time for Earth. During this time, the planet is bombarded by solar storms, which have the potential to disrupt communications, cause damage to power infrastructure, harm some living creatures (including astronauts), and send satellites hurtling toward the planet.

On March 23rd, people who watched the night sky were treated to a breathtaking show of the northern lights and the southern lights. It served as a good reminder that any time our Sun becomes more active, it has the potential to trigger a phenomenon that is referred to as “space weather.” The auroras that might sometimes appear as a result of this phenomena are among its less harmful side effects.

Solar storms, on the other hand, are the opposite end of the space weather spectrum and have the potential to destroy satellites. In February of 2022, the workers of Starlink were the ones who discovered this the hard way. On January 29 of that year, the Sun released a class M 1.1 flare along with a coronal mass ejection that was associated to it.

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