On February 03, 2022, SpaceX launched a new group of satellites for its Starlink constellation. This launch simultaneously released 49 satellites in orbits between 200 km and 250 km height. The launches occurred during a geomagnetic storm, followed by a second one. There was an immediate loss of 32 satellites. The satellite losses may have been caused by an unusually high level of atmospheric drag (unexplained by current theory/modeling) or a high level of satellite collisions.

We used up-to-date substorms, HILDCAAs and geomagnetic storms of varying intensity along with all available geomagnetic indices during the space exploration era to explore the seasonal features of the geomagnetic activity and their drivers. As substorms, HILDCAAs and magnetic storms of varying intensity have varying solar/interplanetary drivers, such a study is important for acomplete understanding of the seasonal features of the geomagnetic response to the solar/interplanetary events.

The wavelet transform was employed in nine HILDCAA events for intervals in which the Cluster crossed the magnetotail in order to identify the most energetic periods of these events in the magnetotail. It was seen that 76 % of the periods identified are ≤4 h. Using the cross wavelet analysis technique between B_z–IMF components and the B_x geomagnetic components, it was identified that the coupling of energy is stronger in periods between 2 and 4 h, which are typical substorm periods.

Cross-wavelet and classical cross-correlation analyses were used in order to study solar-wind–magnetosphere coupling during HILDCAAs. Cross-correlation analyses results show that the coupling between the solar wind and the magnetosphere during HILDCAAs occurs mainly in the period ≤ 8 h. Classical correlation analysis indicates that the correlation between IMF B_z and AE may be classified as moderate (0.4–0.7) and that more than 80 % of the HILDCAAs exhibit a lag of 20–30 min.

Particularly intense substorms (SSS), brilliant auroral displays with strong >106A currents in the ionosphere, are studied. It is believed that these SSS events cause power outages during magnetic storms. It is shown that SSS events can occur during all intensity magnetic storms; thus power problems are not necessarily restricted to the rare most intense storms. We show four SSS events that are triggered by solar wind pressure pulses. If this is typical, ~30-minute warnings could be issued.