![]() ![]() With the launch Wednesday, SpaceX has flown 330 Starlink Gen2 satellites into orbit. The regulatory agency deferred a decision on the remaining satellites SpaceX proposed for Gen2. ![]() 1 to launch up to 7,500 of its planned 29,988-spacecraft Starlink Gen2 constellation, which will spread out into slightly different orbits than the original Starlink fleet. The Federal Communications granted SpaceX approval Dec. Liftoff of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket on the Starlink 5-10 mission, boosting another 56 Starlink internet satellites into orbit from Cape Canaveral. The Starship has nearly 10 times the payload lift capability of a Falcon 9 rocket, with greater volume for satellites, too. The Starlink V2s will be capable of transmitting signals directly to cell phones. But with the Starship rocket still undergoing preparations for its first orbital test flight, SpaceX began launching the Gen2 satellites on Falcon 9 rockets and developed the V2 Minis to fit on the company’s existing launch vehicles. The Starlink V2 Mini satellites that SpaceX began launching in February represent an intermediate step between the smaller Starlink V1.5 spacecraft and the even larger full-size Starlink V2s, which SpaceX plans to deploy in orbit using the company’s new Starship mega-rocket. SpaceX currently has more than 3,800 functioning Starlink satellites in space, with roughly 3,300 operational and more than 400 moving into their operational orbits, according to a tabulation by Jonathan McDowell, an expert tracker of spaceflight activity and an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. That number includes test satellites no longer in service, and satellites that have already re-enter the atmosphere. With the 56 new satellites on Wednesday’s flight, SpaceX has launched 4,217 Starlink spacecraft since the first prototypes in 2018. The Starlink 5-10 mission will continue the Gen2 deployments. While the Starlink V1.5 satellites are similar to the Starlink spacecraft SpaceX has launched over the last few years, SpaceX began launching Starlinks in December into orbital planes that are part of SpaceX’s second-generation, or Gen2, network. SpaceX’s most recent mission last Friday launched 56 more older-generation Starlink V1.5 satellites, and the launch Wednesday followed a nearly identical profile to add 56 more. SpaceX’s 21st mission of the year launched Wednesday with 56 more Starlink internet satellites. They also have two solar arrays, compared to a single extendable solar panel on each Starlink V1.5 spacecraft. The new Starlink V2 Minis carry upgraded phase array antennas and a more efficient, higher-thrust argon-fueled electric propulsion system. 27 on a Falcon 9 rocket, but stopped raising their altitude earlier this month.Įlon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, said the satellites encountered issues after the launch last month, and some of them could be deorbited while others could be salvaged to eventually move into the active Starlink fleet. ![]() The first 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites launched Feb. ![]() Ground teams continue troubleshooting unspecified problems with the first batch of new Starlink V2 Mini satellites, which are larger and offer four times the broadband capacity of the older-design satellites. The mission Wednesday, designated Starlink 5-10, continued deploying SpaceX’s older-generation Starlink V1.5 satellites after the company paused launches of new higher-capacity second-generation Starlinks this month. The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 4:01 p.m. SpaceX delivered 56 more Starlink internet satellites into the company’s global internet constellation after liftoff of a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday, bringing the total number of Starlinks launched to 4,217 spacecraft. ![]()
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