India, May 28 -- A new report claims that sun eruptions are shortening the lives of satellites in Earth orbit, especially SpaceX's Starlink satellites. According to a report by New Scientist, a study by Denny Oliveira at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Centre in Maryland has revealed the effect of geomagnetic storms on satellites, increasing their drag.

The report revealed that the sun has an 11-year cycle of activity, whose peak is known as the solar maximum. During this cycle, the sun's eruptions grow, creating geomagnetic storms that heat the Earth's atmosphere, making it swell outwards.

This effect last occurred in late 2024, and Oliveira and his team studied the effect this had on Starlink. "We found that when we have geomagnetic storm...