Fact check: Starlink satellites are real and orbiting Earth

Isabella Fertel, USA TODAY
·4 min read
12

The claim: Starlink is 'fake' and not in space

Starlink is a novel network of satellites launched in 2019 that deliver broadband internet access around the globe from a low Earth orbit.

Some social media users, however, claim the satellites are fake and not actually in space.

“STARLINK is NOT in SPACE!!!" reads the caption of an Oct. 17 Instagram post. "When you start to research everything including satellites and NASA. You find out it is all FAKE!!!!"

The post includes three photos, two of which show a string of ballon-like objects floating into the sky in a remote, snowy location. The other appears to show a line of satellites in the night sky.

But the Starlink satellites, owned by Elon Musk's SpaceX, are indeed in space, experts say. And two of the photos presented as proof to the contrary don't show Starlink: They are time-lapse photos that show the trajectory of weather balloons measuring ozone levels in the South Pole.

USA TODAY reached out to several users who shared the post for comment.

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Starlink satellites are real and orbiting the Earth

Contrary to the post's claim, Starlink satellites are indeed real and in space, according to experts and NASA.

"I can confirm that Starlink exists and is composed of satellites," Craig DeForest, a heliophysicist at the Southwest Research Institute, said in an email to USA TODAY. "They are visible in the night sky and move too quickly to be balloons."

DeForest said he uses Starlink for internet service at his home.

Images and videos of the Starlink satellites being launched into space are visible on the SpaceX website. Reputable media outlets have covered the many SpaceX launches – including a launch in February where satellites failed to reach orbit due to solar storms. Starlink satellites typically orbit at around 340 miles above the surface of the Earth, according to SpaceNews.

NASA also hosts Starlink launch viewings at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The website findstarlink.com allows users to track the location of the satellites, as well as when and where the satellites will be optimally visible from a specific location.

SpaceX did not respond to a request for comment.

Images show ozone balloons in South Pole, not Starlink satellites

The balloon-looking objects in the post are composite time-lapse images showing the trajectory of weather balloons launched to sample ozone levels at the South Pole, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The photos in this post are from NOAA's work measuring the Earth's ozone layer over Antarctica and have nothing to do with SpaceX Starlink satellites," Monica Allen, a spokesperson for NOAA Research, said in an email to USA TODAY.

Allen confirmed that the reason it appears as though there are multiple weather balloons is because the photos are actually "time-lapse image(s) showing that trajectory of the balloon launch."

The original photos appear on news sites and the NOAA Research website. The original caption reads, "South Pole scientists watch a NOAA staffer launch a weather balloon carrying an ozone-measuring 'sonde' on September 9, 2019, from NOAA's South Pole Atmospheric Baseline Observatory."

The Instagram post also includes an image of what appears to be satellites in the night sky. This image is a screengrab of a video originally posted by The New York Times in a 2019 article on the SpaceX launch.The article explains the video shows Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth as seen from the Netherlands.

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Our rating: False

Based on our research, we rate FALSE the claim that Starlink is "fake" and not in space. Experts and an array of video evidence and media coverage show Starlink satellites are real and orbiting the Earth. The images featured in the post depict weather balloons testing ozone levels in the South Pole, not Starlink satellites.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Starlink satellites are real and orbiting Earth