Twenty Starlink satellites have fallen to Earth and burned up in the atmosphere just days after being launched into orbit due to a faulty rocket.

The Elon Musk-founded firm operates a constellation of over 3,000 satellites in low-Earth orbit that can provide a broadband-quality data service to devices across the globe, including in areas not served by traditional radio towers.

On July 11, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket with 20 additional satellites for the constellation. While the launch was a success at first, a liquid oxygen leak developed on the second stage, which prevented one of the engines from firing.

Starlink confirmed that this technical issue left the satellites “in an eccentric orbit” that was just 135km above the Earth, which caused them to face higher atmospheric drag than was anticipated.

“At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites,” the firm said. “As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere...