The artificial fireball mistaken for a ballistic missile that flew over Spanish airspace on the night of Good Friday would be a Starlink satellite from Space X, billionaire Elon Musk's space company. This has been confirmed by the German air forces (Luffwaffe) after confirming the re-entry of an orbital object to Earth on March 29, news that generated a certain stir in recent hours.
The rest of a currently unidentified satellite or rocket flew over the eastern peninsula on the night of Friday to Saturday until it was lost in the sea south of the Valencian Community, as reported yesterday by the Institute's Firefighters and Meteorites Research Network (SPMN). of Space Sciences of the CSIC.
Initially, it was speculated that it was a ballistic missile from France that would have flown over the provinces of Girona and Barcelona to enter the Balearic Sea and end its journey south of the Valencian Community. The event, in fact, had many similarities with a test of the new M51 strategic ballistic missile that France launched on November 18, 2023. The French Ministry of Defense then confirmed that the device did not carry a nuclear charge and that it had fallen in the North Atlantic. .
Last night, however, this organization confirmed that it was actually “the re-entry of an artificial object into Earth orbit.” It would be “remains of a satellite or space rockets,” said astrophysicist Josep Maria Trigo, coordinator of the SPMN. “Precise measurements of the speed of the object during ablation in the atmosphere will allow us to elucidate its specific nature and, particularly, whether it could be a more unusual skimming car,” Trigo said. The Luftwaffe went further by responding to several Spanish media outlets through
The vehicle, which was named by the aforementioned institute as SPMN290324ART, flew over Spanish space at 11:59 p.m. and was recorded and photographed by numerous fans. Specifically, the vehicle was registered at the video detection stations of Pic Bartolo and Benicàssim (Vicent Ibàñez), Blesa-Teruel (Miguel Aznar), Breda (David Molner), Corbera de Llobregat (Carlos Alcaraz), Esparreguera (Jordi Gil), Folgueroles (Pep Pujols/AAO and Josep Maria Trigo/CSIC-IEEC), Sant Celoni (David Molner), Sant Fost de Campsentelles (Lina Aguasca) and Sant Mateu (Cèsar Guasch). In general, the range of observation was located in the communities of Aragon, Catalonia, Madrid, Valencia, Euskadi, La Rioja and Navarra.
Elon Musk wants to get the most out of space. In addition to SpaceX rockets, which lead the race for the return to the Moon and for a first manned trip to Mars, the also owner of Tesla wants to be the main means of putting satellites into orbit.
Precisely in this area, Starlink, Musk's company dedicated to offering broadband internet connection via satellite to any part of the world – even in the middle of the ocean – from 29 euros per month, already has constellations orbiting that total between 5,000 and 6,000. minisatellites, which occupy the very low orbit of the Earth, and which represent about 50% of the 12,000 satellites that currently orbit our planet. Starlink plans to launch up to 42,000 in the coming years.
