This week will be massive for SpaceX.
The SpaceX CEO Elon Musk just gave us the
first look at his rocket company's bold plan
to bring ultra-high-speed internet to the
entire world.
He shows off SpaceX’s 60 internet-beaming
satellites packed together for launch.
This is Elon Musk’sconfirmation that the
company is on target to launch these satellites
is just the beginning.
On 11th May, Saturday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk
revealed these satellites, his company will
be launching this week.
This launch is the part of Starlink that SpaceX
hopes to deploy in the years ahead to provide
global internet coverage from space.
Musk tweeted out an image of satellites packed
tight together inside the nosecone of the
SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket that will take the
spacecraft to orbit, along with fresh details
about the global satellite networking gambit.
The satellites are the first operational units
of SpaceX’s Starlink initiative, a planned
mega-constellation of nearly 12,000 satellites
that will fly close to the planet, closer
than the International Space Station, in what
is known as low Earth orbit and have been
designed to beam internet connectivity to
the surface below on earth.
Earlier, the US Federal Communications Commission
(FCC) had granted SpaceX the permission to
launch the Starlink satellites, but in two
group.
The first is a constellation of 4,409 satellites
while the second constellation will have 7,518
satellites.
The second constellation will be placed and
will operate at a slightly lower altitude
than the first constellation.
The higher satellites will operate at an altitude
of between 690 miles (1,110 km) and 823 miles
(1,325 km) and act as the backbone of the
Starlink broadband service, while the other
satellites will be deployed at altitudes of
between 208 miles (335 km) and 215 miles (346
km) and be used to boost capacity and lower
latency, particularly in locations that are
heavily populated.
Together, the satellites are meant to fly
in a synchronized dance over the Earth, providing
internet to every region of the planet.
In this video, Engineering Today will discuss
SpaceX's first 60 Starlink internet-beaming
satellites which will be launching this week.
How SPACEX GEARS UP TO LAUNCH these INTERNET
SATELLITES and Why SpaceX's Starlink Could
Cause Cascades of Space Junk?
Let’s get into details.
The splashy plan was first announced in 2015.
SpaceX has been ramping up fundraising in
preparation for that and another high-profile
project.
If the iconoclastic entrepreneur meets his
goals, internet users around the world could
see internet speeds that are around 40 times
faster, no matter where they live.
Though Musk and Space X have not said how
much they would charge for the service.
The low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites fly just
a few hundred kilometres above the surface
of the earth.
Since their orbit is small, they tend to loop
around earth quite quickly.
A lot of the LEO satellites tend to follow
the polar orbit, which means they pass above
both the north and south poles many times
a day.
These sit below the medium-earth orbit (MEO)
satellites, and are semi-synchronous—these
are usually placed around 20,000km above the
earth’s surface, and pass the same points
on the equator multiple times a day.
To provide internet connectivity, these satellites
move in space in a synchronized movement and
transmit the signals to the ground-based terminals.
The movement of the satellites is configured
in a way that at least one satellite will
be able to hook-up with each terminal on the
ground at all times.
The idea is to let these terminals provide
Wi-Fi, LTE, and 3G mobile data signals for
a certain area.
SpaceX’s FCC approvals are contingent on
the company being able to launch half of all
these satellites within the next six years.
This will not be SpaceX's first launch of
the satellites.
So far, In February last year, SpaceX had
only launched two experimental satellites,
nicknamed TinTin A and the TinTin B, and are
reported to have passed the trials and tests.
The duo seemed to perform well, according
to Musk and SpaceX investors, though the company
did end up keeping the satellites in a lower
orbit than originally planned.
As a result, SpaceX successfully petitioned
the FCC to fly some of its satellites in the
lower orbit, based on what the company had
learned from those test satellites.
Now the SpaceX company is preparing to launch
the Starlink project in earnest.
This first group of 60 consists of “production
design” spacecraft that are different than
the TinTin satellites, according to Musk.
However last week during a satellite conference,
SpaceX president and COO Gwynne Shotwell noted
that these satellites still lack some design
features needed for the final constellation.
While the satellites will have antennas for
communicating with Earth and the capability
to maneuver through space, they won’t be
able to communicate with one another in orbit,
she said.
Shotwell ultimately referred to this batch
as “demonstration” satellites, which will
test out how the company plans to deploy these
vehicles into orbit.
On Twitter, Musk noted that the satellites
are flat-packed inside the nosecone, or payload
fairing.
This SpaceX’s Starlink launch is extremely
unique for several reasons.
Aside from the unprecedented step of launching
60 spacecraft weighing 13,000 kg (30,000 lb)
on a developmental mission, both the form
factor of each satellite and the style of
dispenser or payload adapter has never been
seen before.
SpaceX appears to have settled on a square
dispenser with four separate quadrants for
satellites.
The Falcon 9 rocket will take these satellites
into space, and it is expected that the launch
will happen on May 15th.
The weather forecast looks mostly favorable
for the launch of a whopping 60 SpaceX communications
satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
on 15th May, Wednesday, according to the Air
Force.
Teams are expected to face 70% "go" conditions
for the 10:30 p.m. Falcon 9 liftoff from Launch
Complex 40.
The possibility of clouds and showers were
noted as the main concerns by the Air Force's
Space Coast-based 45th Weather Squadron.
After liftoff, the rocket's first stage will
target a landing on the Of Course I Still
Love You drone ship stationed in the Atlantic
Ocean.
Little has been known about the SpaceX Starlink
system, aside from tidbits gleaned from public
filings and employees leaving the program.
Musk fired the head of the Starlink program
last year, four months after SpaceX launched
its first two test satellites for Starlink.
Musk later blamed layoffs at SpaceX in January
in part due to Starlink as one of the company’s
“two absolutely insane projects.”
“SpaceX has to be incredibly spartan with
expenditures until those programs reach fruition,”
Musk said in January.
Starlink’s technology is a closely kept
secret as competition is heating up among
at least a half dozen other companies, from
the Canadian Telesat to newcomer Amazon.
But over the past few months, filings made
by SpaceX to the Federal Communications Commission
have given insight into the company’s plans.
The first part of the network will operate
at a “very low Earth orbit.”
In a letter to the FCC, SpaceX said the satellites
are now designed to be “completely demisable”
when they return and burn up in Earth’s
atmosphere.
SpaceX said this means there is “zero”
risk any pieces of Starlink will hurt anyone
on the ground after the satellites are done
being used.
SpaceX also submitted an application this
year to operate 1 million “earth stations”
in the U.S.
Musk warned in a later tweet that “much
will likely go wrong” on this first mission.
He argued that at least six more launches
of 60 satellites will be needed to provide
“minor” internet coverage, while 12 launches
will be needed for “moderate” coverage.
SpaceX has said it aims to have internet coverage
available starting in 2020.
Shotwell said SpaceX could launch two to six
more Starlink missions this year, depending
on how this first flight goes.
One Twitter user noted in response to Musk,
six additional launches of 60 satellites comes
to 420 satellites total,a number that Musk
has enjoyed.
Musk was famously fined $20 million by the
SEC for claiming that he might take Tesla
public at $420 a share.
Based on the recent events, the CEO admitted
it might not be his lucky number anymore.
Musk Joked, "That *might* not be my lucky
number".
SpaceX is just one of many companies eager
to launch large constellations of satellites
into space, in order to offer global internet
coverage.
Companies like OneWeb, Telesat, LeoSat, and
now Amazon are also working on massive constellations
that would provide internet connectivity from
low orbits over Earth.
In February this year, American company OneWeb
launched six satellites—the first of its
planned constellation of 650 satellites.
These will also be looking to completely carpet
earth with internet connectivity, and will
be placed 750 miles above the earth’s surface.
But now SpaceX is poised to gain a significant
lead in the race to provide internet from
space.
SpaceX estimates the entire Starlink project
will cost around $10 billion, which covers
launch costs, as well as the design and setup
of the necessary infrastructure to create
its global broadband network.
SpaceX confirmed that Starlink would directly
target private and business users alike.
If successful, not only will the Starlink
constellation bypass complicated ground-based
infrastructure and deliver internet to remote
areas of the world, but it could become a
cash cow that helps fund Musk's dream to colonize
Mars.
