On Saturday, Elon Musk (the owner of Starlink) issued stern warnings, divulging that the Starlink satellites are under “a lot of pressure” because of the powerful geomagnetic storm hitting Earth presently.The Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) underlined that the conditions touched level 5 on the 5-point scale of geomagnetic activity on Friday evening.The SWPC added that since October 2003its satellites observed first such storm to reach that level. It was definitely an “extreme” event.

“Major geomagnetic solar storm happening right now. Biggest in a long time. Starlink satellites are under a lot of pressure, but holding up so far,” Elon Musk stated in an X post. Earlier in the day, Starlink cautioned on its website that it was experiencing “degraded service”, though it didn’t give more details.The company has around 6,000 satellites in low-earth orbit that connect with ground transceivers, delivering broadband internet to customers.

The inter-satellite laser links makes possible exchangeof data between satellites in space at the speed of light, letting the network to offer internet coverage around the world. Starlink owns around 60 per cent of the roughly 7,500 satellites orbiting our Earth and is a principal player in satellite internet.

If satellites get effected, they could unsettle navigation and communication services on Earth.The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) emphasized that a G5 geomagnetic storm can cause “widespread voltage control problems” and that some grid systems may experience total collapse or blackouts. Electrical lines found in people’s homes are not understood to be at risk though. The agency said that a geomagnetic storm is a major disorder of Earth’s magnetosphere and befalls when there is an exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding our Earth.It usually involves powerful solar flares known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) being radiated from the sun. At least seven have been observed since Wednesday, as per some reports.

The storms are caused by variations in the solar wind that cause major alterations in the currents, plasma and fields in Earth’s magnetosphere.The NOAA stated that the storm is expected to persist over the weekend, posing risks to power grids, navigation systems, and satellite navigation, among other services.

The last time Earth endured a Level 5 geomagnetic event, there were damaged transformers in South Africa and power outages in Sweden.Nevertheless, the storm caused the skies across the US to light up in a remarkable, colourful glow at levels not seen in years or decades as colossal solar flares slammed into Earth on Friday.