Following a warning from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), SpaceX had to postpone its rocket launch by 4.5 hours, while Canada faced issues with oil rigs due to GPS signal interference.
Graphic depicting how the Sun launches “storms” towards Earth – (Photo: NASA).
According to Space, these impacts were reported following a G3 geomagnetic storm that swept across Earth on February 27. The rocket launch in question was part of SpaceX’s previously announced plan to send 21 Starlink satellites into orbit from Florida, USA.
After the storm subsided a few hours later, the SpaceX rocket was finally able to launch at 6:13 PM local time on the same day (equivalent to 6:13 AM on February 28 in Vietnam).
SpaceX has collaborated with NOAA since an unfortunate incident last February, which caused the company to lose a batch of 40 satellites after launching them into a relatively mild geomagnetic storm, which was still strong enough to cause these satellites to be “flipped” back towards Earth and burn up in the atmosphere.
In addition to SpaceX’s troubles, Canada also reported having to temporarily halt operations at several oil rigs due to GPS signal interference during the geomagnetic storm.
Geomagnetic storms are storms carrying electric charge that hit Earth from outer space, originating from our Sun, which is why they are also referred to as solar storms.
Solar storms often allow people on Earth to witness beautiful auroras, but they can also disrupt power grids, radio systems, GPS, cause problems for satellites, and even lead migratory birds astray.
