A GEOMAGNETIC storm has doomed dozens of SpaceX satellites to a fiery demise by preventing them from reaching their final orbit.

Forty of the 49 Starlink satellites launched by the California rocket-maker last week will disintegrate as they deorbit and burn up in Earth's atmosphere.

Estimates suggest that each satellite costs SpaceX $250,000 to build and launch, meaning the storm could cost it as much as $10million.

In an update yesterday, SpaceX, which is run by billionaire Elon Musk, explained how the storm would affect its most recent Starlink deployment.

The WiFi-beaming technology is typically deployed into lower orbits so that they can be quickly deorbited and destroyed in case something goes wrong.

Once initial checks are complete, they're pushed to higher orbits where they join a mega-constellation that provides internet access to Starlink customers.

A geomagnetic storm that rattled Earth's magnetosphere on February 4 raised atmospheric drag, preventing the satellites from raising their orbits.

As a result, they will be pulled back towards Earth by its gravitational pull before turning to dust as they re-enter the atmosphere.

"Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday," SpaceX wrote on its website.

"These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase."

The company added that onboard GPS data suggested that the severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to jump by up to 50 per cent.