Tag: Starlink

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SpaceX launches third batch of Starlink satellites

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SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its pad, sending Starlink satellites into space. (SpaceX via YouTube)

SpaceX sent a fresh batch of 60 Starlink broadband satellites into orbit tonight on a Falcon 9 rocket, executing a mission that aims to give the California-based company the world’s biggest commercial satellite constellation.

When added to the previous two 60-satellite launches, the Starlink tally comes to 180 satellites. Some of SpaceX’s previously launched satellites are no longer in service; nevertheless, the launch was expected to push Starlink past Planet’s constellation of roughly 140 Earth-imaging satellites.

SpaceX’s facility in Redmond, Wash., is playing the lead role in building Starlink satellites. Eventually, SpaceX aims to have thousands of the satellites in low Earth orbit — but the prospect of having so many spacecraft in orbit has sparked concerns about the effect on astronomical observations and space traffic jams.

Tonight’s liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came at 9:19 p.m. ET (6:19 p.m. PT), marking the first orbital launch of 2020.

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Mega-constellations spark fears about space traffic

Starlink streaks
An image of the NGC 5353/4 galaxy group, made with a telescope at Arizona’s Lowell Observatory on May 25, shows the trails of reflected light left by SpaceX’s freshly launched Starlink satellites as they pass through the telescope’s field of view. The brightness diminishes once the satellites reach their intended altitude. (Lowell Observatory Photo via IAU / Victoria Girgis)

The retired commander of the U.S. Strategic Command says the tens of thousands of satellites that SpaceX, OneWeb and Amazon are planning to put into orbit over the next few years will require a new automated system for space traffic management — and perhaps new satellite hardware requirements as well.

Retired Gen. Kevin Chilton laid out his ideas for dealing with potentially catastrophic orbital traffic jams at the University of Washington on Friday, during the inaugural symposium presented by UW’s Space Policy and Research Center.

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How the Seattle area became a satellite hotspot

SpaceX employees in Redmond
SpaceX employees in Redmond, Wash., give a cheer during the countdown to a Falcon 9 rocket launch that put dozens of Redmond-built SpaceX Starlink satellites in orbit on Nov. 11. (SpaceX via YouTube)

Seattle may not be the best place to put a launch pad, but the region is turning into one of the most prolific satellite production centers in the United States.

“How many of you know that Washington state is actually one of the world’s leading satellite manufacturers?” Roger Myers, a longtime aerospace executive who is currently president-elect of the Washington State Academy of Sciences, asked during a session of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s Economic Leadership Forum on Nov. 18.

In terms of sheer mass and revenue, Colorado-based Lockheed Martin and Boeing’s satellite operation in California still have bragging rights.

But when you tally up how many satellites have been launched in the past couple of years, it’s hard to beat SpaceX’s satellite development and manufacturing facility in Redmond, Wash.

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SpaceX launches 60 more Starlink satellites

SpaceX Falcon 9 launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket rises from its pad, sending 60 satellites into orbit. (SpaceX via YouTube)

SpaceX sent its second set of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit today, atop a Falcon 9 rocket that featured the fourth go-round for the first-stage booster and the first reuse of a nose cone.

Liftoff from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida came on time at 9:56 a.m. ET (6:56 a.m. PT). One of SpaceX’s launch commentators gave a nod to Veterans Day as the rocket rose: “With gratitude to our veterans, today and always, go USA!”

Minutes afterward, the rocket’s first stage flew itself back to what has now become a routine touchdown on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean, while the second stage and its payload continued to orbit. The booster had flown three times before — so today’s mission marked the first time the same rocket booster has been launched and recovered four times.

The nose cone, or fairing, was previously flown in April and was recovered at sea after that launch for its precedent-setting reuse today.

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SpaceX seeks 30,000 spots for Starlink satellites

Starlink satellites
A stack of 60 Starlink satellites is in position for orbital deployment during a SpaceX Falcon 9 mission in May. (SpaceX Photo)

SpaceX has filed paperwork with the International Telecommunication Union to add up to 30,000 Starlink broadband data satellites to the 12,000 it’s already been cleared to put in orbit.

The filings reflect SpaceX’s bullishness on the prospects for expanding high-speed internet access to the billions of people around the world who are currently underserved — and its determination to stay ahead of competitors who have their own plans to launch thousands more broadband satellites.

SpaceX’s requests came to light in the form of 20 coordination requests passed along to the ITU on Oct. 7 by the Federal Communications Commission, with 1,525 orbital planes specified in each request. Such requests generally come in the early stages of the regulatory process, with follow-up action taken by the ITU and the FCC.

The filings set off a seven-year countdown for getting clearances and launching the specified satellites, and then operating them for at least 90 days. SpaceX wouldn’t be required to launch all 30,000 satellites, but laying out its plan now could give it a regulatory advantage if other satellite operators were to go after the same orbital slots and frequencies.

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SpaceX wants to rearrange Starlink satellites

Starlink satellite
An artist’s conception shows the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. (SpaceX Illustration)

SpaceX is seeking approval from the Federal Communications Commission for changes in the spacing of its Starlink broadband satellites, in order to extend internet services to a wider swath of the United States on a faster timetable.

“This adjustment will accelerate coverage to southern states and U.S. territories, potentially expediting coverage to the southern continental United States by the end of the next hurricane season and reaching other U.S. territories by the following hurricane season,” SpaceX said in an application filed on Aug. 30 and accepted last week.

If SpaceX follows that schedule, Starlink coverage could be available throughout the 48 contiguous U.S. states by November 2020, when next year’s hurricane season ends.

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SpaceX reports a ‘bug’ after satellite close call

Satellite paths
A computer-generated diagram shows the projected orbital paths of SpaceX’s Starlink satellite and the European Space Agency’s Aeolus satellite. (ESA Graphic via Twitter)

The European Space Agency says it performed a collision avoidance maneuver over the Labor Day weekend to head off a potential crash between its Aeolus wind-measuring satellite and one of SpaceX’s Starlink broadband data satellites.

In a series of tweets, ESA said the Sept. 2 event marked the first such maneuver taken to avoid an active satellite in what’s expected to become a “mega constellation” of thousands of satellites — and it warned that such maneuvers posed a grave challenge for future orbital traffic management.

“As the number of satellites in orbit increases … today’s ‘manual’ collision avoidance process will become impossible,” ESA tweeted.

The space agency said the maneuver was executed successfully about half an orbit before the close encounter.

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SpaceX sweetens the deal for ride-along satellites

SpaceX Falcon launch
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket executes a 64-satellite launch for Seattle-based Spaceflight in December 2018. Now SpaceX is planning rideshare missions without Spaceflight’s involvement. (SpaceX Photo)

Three weeks after announcing that it’s getting into the rideshare market for launching small satellites, SpaceX slashed its prices by more than half – and said it’ll be offering rideshare opportunities on its Starlink broadband satellite launches as often as once a month.

Today’s moves suggest that SpaceX is amping up its effort to get in on the small-satellite launch market, using a strategy pioneered by Seattle-based Spaceflight.

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SpaceX reports milestone for Starlink satellite links

Starlink satellite
An artist’s conception shows the deployment of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites. (SpaceX Illustration)

In the wake of last month’s launch of 60 Starlink broadband data satellites, SpaceX says all but three of them are in communication with the company’s network of ground stations, including the satellite operation’s home base in Redmond, Wash.

In an emailed update, SpaceX said Starlink is ready to go into a testing phase that involves streaming videos and playing video games via satellite.

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SpaceX reports raising a billion dollars

Elon Musk
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk talks about the Starship super-rocket in September 2018. (SpaceX via YouTube)

On the heels of a successful 60-satellite launch, SpaceX says it has raised more than $1 billion for its Starlink satellite internet venture and its super-heavy-lift Starship rocket development effort.

The higher-than-expected investments were reported today in two amended filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. One financing round, which was opened last December, netted $486 million. The other, which opened last month, brought in $535 million. And between the two rounds, there was still $18.8 million in equity to offer, according to the filings.

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