CosmicDance: Measuring Low Earth Orbital Shifts due to Solar Radiations

Radiation shock waves from solar activities are known to be a menace to spaceborne electronic infrastructure. Recent deployments, like the SpaceX Starlink broadband mega-constellation, open up the possibility to measure such impact on Low Earth Orbit infrastructure at scale. Our tool, CosmicDance, enables a data-driven understanding of satellite orbital shifts due to solar radiations. CosmicDance could also signal corner cases, like premature orbital decay, that could lead to service holes in such globally spanning connectivity infrastructure. Our measurements with CosmicDance show that Starlink satellites experience both short and long-term orbital decay even after mild and moderate intensity solar events, often trespassing neighboring shells of satellites.