Tag: Starlink Satellites

SpaceX Launches New Round of Starlink Satellites from Florida

Florida Today reports that a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket “launched from Florida Thursday morning, sending the company’s newest batch of Starlink internet satellites to low-Earth orbit and completing the company’s first launch of March.” SpaceX’s ninth Falcon 9 launch “in as many weeks blasted off at 9:25 a.m. EST from pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center with 47 Starlink internet satellites packed into the nosecone of the reused, 230-foot rocket.” Coupled with ULA’s launch “of its Atlas V rocket earlier in the week, Thursday morning’s launch marks the tenth successful mission from Florida’s Space Coast this year.”
Full Story (Florida Today)

Starlink Service Now Active in Ukraine

SPACE reports that SpaceX CEO Elon Musk “said his space company’s Starlink satellite internet service is available in Ukraine and more terminals to use it are on the way.” Musk “made the statement on Twitter Saturday (Feb. 26) after being asked by a Ukrainian government official if SpaceX could provide more Starlink services to the country after Russian troops invaded Ukraine last week.”
Full Story (SPACE)

NASA Raises Concerns Over Collision Risk Presented by Starlink Satellites

SPACE reports that NASA “raised concerns about SpaceX’s new Starlink satellites, including an increase of the risk of collision in orbit, in a letter to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).” NASA has “concerns with the potential for a significant increase in the frequency of conjunction events and possible impacts to NASA’s science and human spaceflight missions. … NASA wants to ensure that the deployment of the Starlink Gen 2 system is conducted prudently, in a manner that supports spaceflight safety and the long-term sustainability of the space environment.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Chinese Space Station Maneuvered to Avoid Collision with Starlink Satellites

Space News reported that China “has informed the United Nations that its crewed space station twice maneuvered to avoid potential collisions with SpaceX Starlink satellites earlier this year.” A notification “dated Dec. 6 by China under Article V of the Outer Space Treaty stated that the Tianhe space station module conducted preventive collision avoidance due to close approaches by the Starlink-1095 (2020-001BK) and Starlink-2305 (2021-024N) satellites on July 1 and Oct. 21[,] respectively.” The two Starlink satellites had lowered their altitudes as part of deorbiting maneuvers carried out at the end of service life.
Full Story (Space News)

SpaceX to Close Out Year with Three Falcon 9 Launches in 72 Hours

Spaceflight Now reports that SpaceX “is set to close out the year with three Falcon 9 rocket flights in a span of about 72 hours from launch pads in Florida and California, carrying another batch of Starlink internet satellites, a Turkish data relay spacecraft, and a resupply mission to the International Space Station.” If SpaceX launches all three missions, “the company will wrap up 2021 with 31 Falcon 9 rocket flights. SpaceX has already exceeded its previous record of 26 Falcon 9 launches in a calendar year.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

SpaceX Launches 53 More Starlink Satellites

The AP reported that Space X “expanded its constellation of low Earth orbit satellites on Saturday with the launch of 53 Starlink satellites from Florida.” The satellites were deployed via a Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 7:19 a.m. EST.
Full Story (Associated Press)

Scientist Says Starlink Satellites Responsible for More than Half of Close Encounters In Orbit

SPACE reports that University of Southampton Astronautics Research Group head Hugh Lewis said SpaceX’s Starlink satellites are involved in about 1,600 near collisions between two spacecraft every week. Lewis said, “I have looked at the data going back to May 2019 when Starlink was first launched to understand the burden of these megaconstellations. Since then, the number of encounters picked up by the Socrates database has more than doubled and now we are in a situation where Starlink accounts for half of all encounters.”
Full Story (SPACE)

Shotwell Says SpaceX’s Starlink Will Provide Global Coverage Around September

Reuters reports that SpaceX expects that Starlink will “be able to provide continuous global coverage by around September but will then need to seek regulatory approvals, its president Gwynne [Shotwell] said on Tuesday.” She said, “We’ve successfully deployed 1,800 or so satellites and once all those satellites reach their operational orbit, we will have continuous global coverage, so that should be like September timeframe. … But then we have regulatory work to go into every country and get approved to provide telecoms services.” According to Shotwell, the company currently is offering beta services in 11 countries.
Full Story (Reuters)