posted 05-11-2019 09:11 PM               

The first production-design satellites are slated for launch as soon as Wednesday, May 15. From Elon Musk on Twitter:

First 60 SpaceX Starlink satellites loaded into Falcon fairing. Tight fit.

These are production design, unlike our earlier Tintin demo sats. Much will likely go wrong on first mission. Also, six more launches of 60 sats needed for minor coverage, 12 for moderate.

More details on day of launch, currently tracking to Wednesday.

posted 05-15-2019 01:08 AM               

Starlink Mission

SpaceX's Starlink is a next-generation satellite network capable of connecting the globe, especially reaching those who are not yet connected, with reliable and affordable broadband internet services.

Approximately one hour and two minutes after liftoff, the Starlink satellites will begin deployment at an altitude of 440 kilometers. They will then use onboard propulsion to reach an operational altitude of 550 kilometers.

SpaceX designed Starlink to connect end users with low latency, high bandwidth broadband services by providing continual coverage around the world using a network of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit. To manufacture and launch a constellation of such scale, SpaceX is using the same rapid iteration in design approach that led to the successes of Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon. As such, Starlink's simplified design is significantly more scalable and capable than its first experimental iteration.

With a flat-panel design featuring multiple high-throughput antennas and a single solar array, each Starlink satellite weighs approximately 227 kilograms, allowing SpaceX to maximize mass production and take full advantage of Falcon 9's launch capabilities. To adjust position on orbit, maintain intended altitude, and deorbit, Starlink satellites feature Hall thrusters powered by krypton.

Designed and built upon the heritage of Dragon, each spacecraft is equipped with a Startracker navigation system that allows SpaceX to point the satellites with precision. Importantly, Starlink satellites are capable of tracking on-orbit debris and autonomously avoiding collision. Additionally, 95 percent of all components of this design will quickly burn in Earth's atmosphere at the end of each satellite's lifecycle — exceeding all current safety standards — with future iterative designs moving to complete disintegration.

This mission will push the operational capabilities of the satellites to the limit. SpaceX expects to encounter issues along the way, but our learnings here are key to developing an affordable and reliable broadband service in the future.

posted 05-23-2019 10:36 PM               

Successful deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed!

posted 05-24-2019 02:16 PM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Liembo:
What do those initial Starlink satellites look like when deployed? I can't find any images.

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I've been wondering that too ever since the photo of the stack in launch configuration was released.

I count 30 modules. About half look a little different than the others. To have 60 onboard I'm guessing they must be roughly the shape of a triangle or something similar to nest against each other along the centerline of the stack.

posted 05-31-2019 02:48 PM               

We continue to track the progress of the Starlink satellites during early orbit operations. At this point, all 60 satellites have deployed their solar arrays successfully, generated positive power and communicated with our ground stations.

Most are already using their onboard propulsion system to reach their operational altitude and have made initial contact using broadband phased array antennas.

SpaceX continues to monitor the constellation for any satellites that may need to be safely deorbited. All the satellites have maneuvering capability and are programmed to avoid each other and other objects in orbit by a wide margin.

Also, please note that the observability of the Starlink satellites is dramatically reduced as they raise orbit to greater distance and orient themselves with the phased array antennas toward Earth and their solar arrays behind the body of the satellite.

posted 09-02-2019 11:35 AM               

For the first time ever, ESA has performed a "collision avoidance manoeuvre" to protect one of its satellites from colliding with a "mega constellation."

This morning, ESA's Aeolus Earth observation satellite fired its thrusters, moving it off a collision course with a SpaceX satellite in their Starlink constellation. Experts in our space debris team calculated the risk of collision between these two active satellites, determining the safest option for Aeolus would be to increase its altitude and pass over the SpaceX satellite.

The manoeuvre took place about half an orbit before the potential collision. Not long after the collision was expected, Aeolus called home as usual to send back its science data – proving the manoeuvre was successful and a collision was indeed avoided.

It is very rare to perform collision avoidance manoeuvres with active satellites. The vast majority of ESA avoidance manoeuvres are the result of dead satellites or fragments from previous collisions. In 2018, ESA performed 28 collision avoidance manoeuvres across its fleet.

These avoidance manoeuvres take a lot of time to prepare - from determining the future orbital positions of all functioning spacecraft, to calculating the risk of collision and potential outcomes of different actions. As the number of satellites in orbit increases, due to "mega constellations" such as Starlink comprising hundreds or even thousands of satellites, today's "manual" collision avoidance process will become impossible. ESA is preparing to automate this process using AI (Artificial Intelligence). From the initial assessment of a potential collision to a satellite moving out of the way, automated systems are becoming necessary to protect our space infrastructure.

posted 09-03-2019 07:11 AM               

According to Holger Krag, head of the Space Debris Office at ESA, the risk of collision between the two satellites was 1 in 1,000 – ten times higher than the threshold that requires a collision avoidance maneuver. However, despite Aeolus occupying this region of space nine months before Starlink 44, SpaceX declined to move their satellite after the two were alerted to the impact risk by the U.S. military, who monitor space traffic.

"Based on this we informed SpaceX, who replied and said that they do not plan to take action," says Krag, who said SpaceX informed them via email – the first contact that had been made with SpaceX, despite repeated attempts by Krag and his team to get in touch since Starlink launched. "It was at least clear who had to react. So we decided to react because the collision was close to 1 in 1,000, which was ten times higher than our threshold."

As to why SpaceX refused to move their satellite, that is not entirely clear (the company did not respond to a request for comment).

posted 09-03-2019 11:17 AM               

Our Starlink team last exchanged an email with the Aeolus operations team on August 28, when the probability of collision was only in the 2.2e-5 range (or 1 in 50k), well below the 1e-4 (or 1 in 10k) industry standard threshold and 75 times lower than the final estimate. At that point, both SpaceX and ESA determined a maneuver was not necessary.

Then, the U.S. Air Force's updates showed the probability increased to 1.69e-3 (or more than 1 in 10k) but a bug in our on-call paging system prevented the Starlink operator from seeing the follow on correspondence on this probability increase — SpaceX is still investigating the issue and will implement corrective actions.

However, had the Starlink operator seen the correspondence, we would have coordinated with ESA to determine the best approach with their continuing with their manuever or our performing a maneuver.

posted 01-06-2020 12:09 PM               

The potential reward for the company, however, is sizable. With its burgeoning constellation, SpaceX has surged ahead of OneWeb and several other competitors seeking to develop low-latency Internet from space. With its highly reusable Falcon 9 rocket first stage, SpaceX also has a decided cost advantage in terms of getting its satellites into space. Capturing just 3 percent of the global Internet market could bring in about $30 billion in revenue.

posted 04-21-2020 07:56 PM               

After about 10 minutes I noticed a dim satellite overhead moving west to east. At the same time another satellite moving south to north crossed at the same point overhead. You don't see that too often. Then to my surprise I spotted another dim satellite moving west to east in exactly the same orbit as the one ahead of it. Then another one and then another. I counted 14 birds in very loose formation. I had never seen anything like that in my life. That was pretty cool.

Then I remembered something about lines of satellites upsetting astronomers. I went inside and Googled and learned of the Starlink project.

One thing I love doing is going outside on a nice night and watching the sky. Yes I count the overhead satellites and streaks of incoming debris burning in the upper atmosphere.

When I read that SpaceX was planning on launching 12,000 of these satellites I was upset and worried that we are about to loose our natural night skies which I cherish. Then I learned of other projects and in total there could be over 42,000 similar satellites orbiting our Earth in the near future. I was quite upset learning this. The night sky will look like Los Angeles freeways at night with that many satellites. I know SpaceX is talking about trying to make future satellites less reflective.

posted 04-22-2020 02:29 PM               

That said, SpaceX "gets off" by being licensed by the FAA and FCC to do so, just as other companies have been licensed to deploy satellite constellations in the past and in the future. It wasn't too long ago that astronomers were concerned about Iridium satellite flares, but then they became something enthusiasts took delight in seeing.

Granted, the planned number of Starlink satellites are far more than Iridium ever deployed, or the total number of active satellites presently in orbit, but such is the march of progress.

posted 04-23-2020 08:59 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
That said, SpaceX "gets off" by being licensed by the FAA and FCC to do so, just as other companies have been licensed to deploy satellite constellations in the past and in the future.

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The argument that SpaceX and several other companies with future plans to offer internet to Africa and other area's around to world, who they call the "un-connected," is noble. The reality is many parts of the world do not have electricity and computers nor incomes to take advantage of the internet which SpaceX will be charging a fee to use to the majority of the world. I expect affluent nation consumers will subsidize the un-connected places in the world combined with partnerships with Facebook and Google. We all know how much more we need them in our lives and that nothing is free.

posted 04-23-2020 11:17 AM            

quote:

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Originally posted by Robert Pearlman:
That said, SpaceX "gets off" by being licensed by the FAA and FCC to do so...

I'll also point out that using an online forum to label a service as unnecessary may undermine your argument...

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1. the already mentioned international nature of the consequences.
   
2. my own cynicism about the competence of the FAA to handle even its basic core tasks never mind this. I'll just say 737 MAX and leave it there.
   
3. the fact that neither body really makes much effort to study possible other implications outside of their own relatively narrow mandates. That's not their fault, it's how the system is organised, I'm saying that system isn't fit for purpose.

posted 04-28-2020 08:39 AM               

In a briefing to a committee working on the next astrophysics decadal survey, Musk said the experimental "VisorSat," along with a new approach for orienting Starlink satellites as they raise their orbits, should address concerns raised by astronomers that the Starlink constellation could interfere with their observations.

"Our objectives, generally, are to make the satellites invisible to the naked eye within a week [of their launch], and to minimize the impact on astronomy, especially so that we do not saturate observatory detectors and inhibit discoveries," Musk said...

The new approaches won't address the issue of brightness of existing Starlink satellites, but Musk said their lifetime is limited. He estimated the initial generation of satellites will be deorbited in about three to four years to make way for improved satellites.

posted 04-29-2020 11:56 AM               

SpaceX is launching Starlink to provide high-speed, low-latency broadband connectivity across the globe, including to locations where internet has traditionally been too expensive, unreliable, or entirely unavailable. We also firmly believe in the importance of a natural night sky for all of us to enjoy, which is why we have been working with leading astronomers around the world to better understand the specifics of their observations and engineering changes we can make to reduce satellite brightness.

posted 06-03-2020 09:27 PM               

On this mission, we are launching the first Starlink satellite with a deployable visor to block sunlight from hitting the brightest spots of the spacecraft.

Falcon 9's first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship – the first orbital class rocket booster to successfully launch and land five times!

Successful deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed.

posted 02-09-2022 10:58 AM               

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday (Feb. 3) from NASA's historic Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A day later, a geomagnetic storm above Earth increased the density of the atmosphere slightly, increasing drag on the satellites and dooming most of them.

"Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe mode to begin orbit-raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth’s atmosphere," SpaceX wrote in an update Tuesday (Feb. 8).

posted 02-09-2022 10:59 AM               

Geomagnetic Storm and Recently Deployed Starlink Satellites

On Thursday, February 3 at 1:13 p.m. EST, Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Falcon 9's second stage deployed the satellites into their intended orbit, with a perigee of approximately 210 kilometers above Earth, and each satellite achieved controlled flight.

SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower orbits so that in the very rare case any satellite does not pass initial system checkouts it will quickly be deorbited by atmospheric drag. While the low deployment altitude requires more capable satellites at a considerable cost to us, it's the right thing to do to maintain a sustainable space environment.

Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday. These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase. In fact, onboard GPS suggests the escalation speed and severity of the storm caused atmospheric drag to increase up to 50 percent higher than during previous launches. The Starlink team commanded the satellites into a safe-mode where they would fly edge-on (like a sheet of paper) to minimize drag—to effectively "take cover from the storm"—and continued to work closely with the Space Force's 18th Space Control Squadron and LeoLabs to provide updates on the satellites based on ground radars.

Preliminary analysis show the increased drag at the low altitudes prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin orbit raising maneuvers, and up to 40 of the satellites will reenter or already have reentered the Earth's atmosphere. The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites and by design demise upon atmospheric reentry—meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground. This unique situation demonstrates the great lengths the Starlink team has gone to ensure the system is on the leading edge of on-orbit debris mitigation.

posted 08-09-2022 10:41 PM               

With Tuesday's mission, designated Starlink 4-26, SpaceX has launched 3,009 Starlink internet satellites, including prototypes and test units no longer in service. The launch Tuesday marked the 54th SpaceX mission primarily dedicated to hauling Starlink internet satellites into orbit.