For a few months, the Sun has been recovering a level of activity that signals the end of its period of rest. Satellite images reveal an intricate structure of active zones on the surface of our star.
But there are side effects from this increased activity on the Sun. Satellites orbiting close to Earth are subject to drag from the residual atmosphere , gradually slowing the spacecraft down and eventually causing them to fall back to the planet. , sending them to burn up in the atmosphere.
But lately, solar activity is causing satellites to fly out of their orbits at an increasingly alarming rate; they are falling and colliding 10 times faster than before, a fact that has coincided with the start of the new solar cycle.
Since December 2021, the Sun has been more active and generating more and more solar wind, sunspots, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections that have had a significant impact on Earth's upper atmosphere. All of this, which is completely natural within the Sun's 11-year solar cycle, results in chaos for our satellites.
According to experts, the same thing that is happening to satellites in Earth orbit could happen to the International Space Station, for which it will have to perform more frequent restart maneuvers to stay afloat.
But since most satellites don't have propulsion systems , they will end up having a much shorter lifespan in orbit.
