SpaceX rocket explosion linked to unexpected ionospheric hole

The Russians claim that last year's explosion of SpaceX's Starship rocket caused a hole in the ionosphere. Such a phenomenon usually occurs due to chemical processes in the ionosphere that arise from interactions with fuel. This time, according to scientists, the reason was different.

In November 2023, another attempt at an orbital flight of the Starship was made. After the first and second stages were successfully separated at an altitude of 43 miles, the first stage exploded. The second stage also exploded shortly before reaching orbit at an altitude of about 93 miles. Nevertheless, SpaceX drew some positive conclusions from that test. The topic is returning thanks to a study by Russian scientists.

Russian scientists decided to examine the second explosion closely, as evidenced by a new study published on August 26 in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. In their assessment, the explosion caused a temporary, large ionospheric hole. Such holes usually form due to chemical processes in the ionosphere caused by fuel interaction.

This time, the phenomenon is believed to be caused by the explosion, specifically the shock wave it generated, which dispersed free electrons in the ionosphere. According to the researchers, the fuel itself may have enhanced the ionospheric hole phenomenon but was not the leading cause of its formation. This is why no light display was observed.

The study's lead author, Yury Yasyukevich, quoted by TASS, explains that "such catastrophic events as the explosion of a spacecraft are interesting precisely because you can see effects that the equipment is not able to detect during weaker events."

This, in turn, can translate into a better understanding of the ionosphere and its structure. It is currently unclear how large the discussed ionospheric hole might have been.