Billionaire Musk's internet satellites are constantly burning up in space.

Between July and September 2023, 212 Starlink satellites belonging to SpaceX burned up in space .

"The number of Starlink satellites recently burned up has surged, costing aerospace company SpaceX approximately $100 million," Cybernews revealed .

The Starlink satellite was launched into low Earth orbit. (Image: Shutterstock)

SpaceX, the aerospace company founded by billionaire Elon Musk in 2002, has developed and operates Starlink, a constellation of internet satellites .

SpaceX began launching Starlink satellites in 2019. Since then, more than 5,000 satellites have been placed into low Earth orbit. Of these, approximately 4,500 are currently operational.

Data compiled by Satellitemap.space shows that the number of Starlink satellites burned up in space has been steadily increasing recently . In particular, over the past two months (July to September 2023), this phenomenon has resulted in the loss of 212 Starlink satellites for the American billionaire's company.

It remains unclear whether the SpaceX satellites strayed from Earth's orbit, malfunctioned, or burned up due to solar storms. Cybernews has contacted SpaceX for comment but has not yet received a response from the company.

Starlink satellites are designed to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere at the end of their lifespan, which is approximately 5 years.

Satellites can also be vulnerable to solar storms when they enter their most active period in the summer.

SpaceX announced in February 2022 that it had lost 40 new satellites shortly after launch due to a solar electromagnetic storm.

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