Manufacturer | SpaceX |
---|---|
Country of origin | United States |
Operator | SpaceX |
Applications | Internet service |
Website | starlink |
Specifications | |
Spacecraft type | Small satellite |
Launch mass | v 0.9: 227 kg (500 lb) v 1.0: 260 kg (570 lb) v 1.5: ~295 kg (650 lb) [1] -306 kg (675 lb) v 2.0 ~1,250 kg (2,760 lb) [2] |
Equipment |
|
Regime | Low Earth orbit Sun-synchronous orbit |
Production | |
Status | Active |
Launched | |
Operational | 2,494 [3] |
Maiden launch | 22 February 2018 |
Last launch | 28 October 2022 |
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX [4] [5] providing satellite Internet access to most of the Earth. [6] [7]
The deployment of the first 1,440 satellites will be into 72 orbital planes of 20 satellites each, [8] with a requested lower minimum elevation angle of beams to improve reception: 25° rather than the 40° of the other two orbital shells. [9] : 17 SpaceX launched the first 60 satellites of the constellation in May 2019 into a 450 km (280 mi) orbit and expected up to six launches in 2019 at that time, with 720 satellites (12 × 60) for continuous coverage in 2020. [10] [11]
In August 2019, SpaceX expected four more launches in 2019 [12] and at least nine launches in 2020, [13] but since January 2020 expectations had increased to 24 total launches in 2020. [14]
In March 2020, SpaceX reported producing six satellites per day. [15]
Starlink satellites are also planned to launch on Starship, an under-development rocket of SpaceX with a much larger payload capacity. [16]
In February 2021, Musk stated that the satellites are traveling on 25 orbital planes clustered between 53° north and south of the equator. [17]
No. | Mission | Sat. Ver. | COSPAR ID | Date and time, UTC | Launch site | Orbit | Satellites | Outcome | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Altitude | Orbital Inclination | Deployed [3] | Working [3] | |||||||
– | Tintin [18] | v0.1 | 2018-020 | 22 February 2018, 14:17 [19] [20] | VAFB, SLC-4E | 514 km (319 mi) | 97.5° [21] | 2 | 0 | Success |
Two test satellites known as Tintin A and B [22] (MicroSat-2a and 2b) that were deployed as co-payloads to the Paz satellite. As of 1 September 2020 [update] , the orbits have decayed and both satellites have reentered the atmosphere. [23] [24] [25] | ||||||||||
1 | v0.9 [26] | v0.9 | 2019-029 | 24 May 2019, 02:30 [27] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 440–550 km (270–340 mi) [28] | 53.0° | 60 | 0 | Success [29] |
First launch of 60 Starlink test satellites. [30] Said to be "production design", these are used to test various aspects of the network, including deorbiting. [31] They do not yet have the planned satellite interlink capabilities and they only communicate with antennas on Earth. A day after launch an amateur astronomer in the Netherlands was one of the first to publish a video showing the satellites flying across the sky as a "train" of bright lights. [32] By five weeks post launch, 57 of the 60 satellites had been "healthy" while 3 were non-operational and derelict derelict, but deorbited due to atmospheric drag. [33] As of 16 November 2021 [update] , only 5 failed satellites were still in orbit. All working satellites have been deorbited deliberately. [34] | ||||||||||
2 | L1 [35] | v1.0 | 2019-074 | 11 November 2019, 14:56 [36] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 47 | Success |
First launch of Starlink "operational" satellites (v1.0), [36] with an increased mass of 260 kg each and included Ka-band antennas. [37] Satellites were released in a circular orbit at around 290 km altitude, from which the satellites raised their altitude by themselves. | ||||||||||
3 | L2 | v1.0 | 2020-001 | 7 January 2020, 02:19:21 [38] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 46 | Success |
One of the satellites, dubbed DarkSat, [39] has an experimental coating to make it less reflective, and to reduce the impact on ground-based astronomical observations. [40] | ||||||||||
4 | L3 | v1.0 | 2020-006 | 29 January 2020, 14:06 [41] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 48 | Success |
5 | L4 | v1.0 | 2020-012 | 17 February 2020, 15:05 [42] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 50 | Success |
First time the satellites were released in an elliptical orbit (212 × 386 km). | ||||||||||
6 | L5 | v1.0 | 2020-019 | 18 March 2020, 12:16:39 [38] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 55 | Success |
7 | L6 | v1.0 | 2020-025 | 22 April 2020, 19:30:30 [43] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 52 | Success |
8 | L7 | v1.0 | 2020-035 | 4 June 2020, 01:25:00 [44] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 54 | Success |
One of the satellites, dubbed VisorSat, has a sunshade to reduce the impact on ground-based astronomical observations. [45] | ||||||||||
9 | L8 | v1.0 | 2020-038 | 13 June 2020, 09:21:18 [46] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 58 | 51 | Success |
First Starlink rideshare launch, carrying only 58 of SpaceX's satellites plus three Planet Labs, SkySats 16-18 Earth-observation satellites. [46] | ||||||||||
10 | L9 | v1.0 | 2020-055 | 7 August 2020, 05:12:05 [38] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 57 | 54 | Success |
BlackSky Global 7 and 8, the 5th and 6th BlackSky Global satellites, launched as rideshare payloads. [47] All of the Starlink satellites are outfitted with the sunshade visor that was tested on a single satellite on 4 June 2020 launch. [48] | ||||||||||
11 | L10 | v1.0 | 2020-057 | 18 August 2020, 14:31:16 [38] [49] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 58 | 53 | Success |
Rideshare satellites from Planet Labs, SkySats 19-21 Earth-observation satellites. | ||||||||||
12 | L11 | v1.0 | 2020-062 | 3 September 2020, 12:46:14 [8] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 52 | Success |
13 | L12 | v1.0 | 2020-070 | 6 October 2020, 11:29:34 [50] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 51 | Success |
14 | L13 | v1.0 | 2020-073 | 18 October 2020, 12:25:57 [38] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 48 | Success |
15 | L14 | v1.0 | 2020-074 | 24 October 2020, 15:31:34 [51] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 47 | Success |
16 | L15 | v1.0 | 2020-088 | 25 November 2020, 02:13:12 [52] | CCAFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 43 | Success |
17 | L16 | v1.0 | 2021-005 | 20 January 2021, 13:02:00 [38] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 58 | Success |
– | Tr-1 | v1.0 | 2021-006 | 24 January 2021, 15:00:00 [53] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 560 km (350 mi) | 97.5° [53] | 10 | 0 | Success |
Part of Transporter-1 (SmallSat Rideshare Mission 1). [54] First launch of production Starlink satellites to polar orbits. | ||||||||||
18 | L18 | v1.0 | 2021-009 | 4 February 2021, 06:19:00 [55] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 56 | Success |
19 | L19 | v1.0 | 2021-012 | 16 February 2021, 03:59:37 [56] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 57 | Success |
SpaceX lost the Falcon 9 booster in the Atlantic Ocean. [56] | ||||||||||
20 | L17 | v1.0 | 2021-017 | 4 March 2021, 08:24:54 [57] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 56 | Success |
Second stage failed to deorbit actively, reentered March 26 over Oregon and Washington in the United States. [58] | ||||||||||
21 | L20 | v1.0 | 2021-018 | 11 March 2021, 08:13:29 [59] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 60 | Success |
22 | L21 | v1.0 | 2021-021 | 14 March 2021, 10:01:26 [60] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 59 | Success |
23 | L22 | v1.0 | 2021-024 | 24 March 2021, 08:28:24 [61] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 45 | Success |
24 | L23 | v1.0 | 2021-027 | 7 April 2021, 16:34:18 [38] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 60 | Success |
25 | L24 | v1.0 | 2021-036 | 29 April 2021, 03:44:00 [38] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 60 | Success |
26 | L25 | v1.0 | 2021-038 | 4 May 2021, 19:01 [38] | KSC, LC-39A | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 60 | Success |
27 | L27 | v1.0 | 2021-040 | 9 May 2021, 06:42 [62] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) | 53.0° | 60 | 58 | Success |
28 | L26 | v1.0 | 2021-041 | 15 May 2021, 22:56 [63] | KSC, LC-39A | 569–582 km (354–362 mi) | 53.0° | 52 | 49 | Success |
Rideshare satellites: a radar Earth imaging satellite for Capella Space, and an Earth observation satellite, Tyvak 0130, for Tyvak Nano-Satellite Systems. | ||||||||||
29 | L28 | v1.0 | 2021-044 | 26 May 2021, 18:59 [64] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 550 km (340 mi) [65] | 53.0° | 60 | 60 | Success |
Last v1.0 and Group 1 Starlink Launch. | ||||||||||
– | Tr-2 | v1.5 [66] | 2021-059 | 30 June 2021, 19:31 [67] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 560 km (350 mi) | 97.5° | 3 | 3 | Success |
Part of Transporter-2 (SmallSat Rideshare Mission 2). [68] Second launch of production Starlink and first launch of 3 prototype Starlink v1.5 satellites to polar orbits. | ||||||||||
30 | Group 2-1 | v1.5 | 2021-082 | 14 September 2021, 03:55:50 [69] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 570 km (350 mi) | 70.0° | 51 | 50 | Success |
First launch of operational Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base, and first launch into a high-inclination, non-SSO orbit. Musk stated that the operational satellites were version 1.5 and featured "laser inter-satellite links, which are needed for high latitudes and mid-ocean coverage". [70] | ||||||||||
31 | Group 4-1 | v1.5 | 2021-104 | 13 November 2021, 11:19:30 [71] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 52 | Success |
First launch of Group 4 Starlink satellites. | ||||||||||
32 | Group 4-3 | v1.5 | 2021-115 | 2 December 2021, 23:12:15 [72] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 48 | 48 | Success |
Rideshare satellites: BlackSky-16 Gen-2 and BlackSky-17 Gen-2. | ||||||||||
33 | Group 4-4 | v1.5 | 2021-125 | 18 December 2021, 12:41:40 [73] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 52 | 51 | Success |
34 | Group 4-5 | v1.5 | 2022-001 | 6 January 2022, 21:49:10 [74] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 49 | 49 | Success |
35 | Group 4-6 | v1.5 | 2022-005 | 19 January 2022, 02:02:40 [75] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 49 | 49 | Success |
36 | Group 4-7 | v1.5 | 2022-010 | 3 February 2022, 18:13:20 [76] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 49 | 11 | Success |
On 4 February 2022, the satellites deployed on this mission were significantly impacted by a G2-rated geomagnetic storm. The satellites were commanded into a safe-mode, but increased atmospheric drag prevented the satellites from leaving safe-mode to begin manoeuvering from the low deployment altitude to an operational orbit. On 8 February 2022, SpaceX confirmed that up to 40 of the 49 deployed satellites will reenter or have reentered the Earth's atmosphere. [77] [78] By 12 February, 38 satellites had reentered the atmosphere while the remaining 11 continued to raise their orbits. [79] | ||||||||||
37 | Group 4-8 | v1.5 | 2022-016 | 21 February 2022, 14:44:20 [80] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 46 | 46 | Success |
38 | Group 4-11 | v1.5 | 2022-017 | 25 February 2022, 17:12:10 [81] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 50 | 50 | Success |
39 | Group 4-9 | v1.5 | 2022-022 | 3 March 2022, 14:25 [82] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 47 | 47 | Success |
40 | Group 4-10 | v1.5 | 2022-025 | 9 March 2022, 13:45:10 [83] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 48 | 47 | Success |
41 | Group 4-12 | v1.5 | 2022-029 | 19 March 2022, 04:42:30 [84] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 47 | Success |
42 | Group 4-14 | v1.5 | 2022-041 | 21 April 2022, 17:51:40 [85] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
43 | Group 4-16 | v1.5 | 2022-045 | 29 April 2022, 21:27:10 [86] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
44 | Group 4-17 | v1.5 | 2022-049 | 6 May 2022, 09:42 [87] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
45 | Group 4-13 | v1.5 | 2022-051 | 13 May 2022, 22:07:50 [88] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
46 | Group 4-15 | v1.5 | 2022-052 | 14 May 2022, 20:40:50 [89] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
First Starlink launch on a new Falcon first stage booster (All prior flights were with reused boosters). | ||||||||||
47 | Group 4-18 | v1.5 | 2022-053 | 18 May 2022, 10:59:40 [90] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
48 | Group 4-19 | v1.5 | 2022-062 | 17 June 2022, 16:09:20 [91] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
49 | Group 4-21 | v1.5 | 2022-076 | 7 July 2022, 13:11:10 [92] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
50 | Group 3-1 | v1.5 | 2022-077 | 11 July 2022, 01:39:40 [93] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 560 km (350 mi) | 97.6° | 46 | 46 | Success |
50th dedicated Starlink launch. | ||||||||||
51 | Group 4-22 | v1.5 | 2022-083 | 17 July 2022, 14:20 [94] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
52 | Group 3-2 | v1.5 | 2022-084 | 22 July 2022, 17:39:40 [95] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 560 km (350 mi) | 97.6° | 46 | 46 | Success |
53 | Group 4-25 | v1.5 | 2022-086 | 24 July 2022, 13:38:20 [96] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 51 | Success |
54 | Group 4-26 | v1.5 | 2022-097 | 10 August 2022, 02:14:40 [97] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 52 | 51 | Success |
55 | Group 3-3 | v1.5 | 2022-099 | 12 August 2022, 21:40:20 [98] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 560 km (350 mi) | 97.6° | 46 | 46 | Success |
56 | Group 4-27 | v1.5 | 2022-101 | 19 August 2022, 19:21:20 [99] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
57 | Group 4-23 | v1.5 | 2022-104 | 28 August 2022, 03:41 [100] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 54 | 53 | Success |
Heaviest Falcon 9 launch carrying a east-coast Starlink network launch for 53.2° inclination orbit located at 540 km altitude. This flight, Group 4-23, was moved from 39A to 40 to de-conflict with Artemis I operations at 39B, and booster B1069.2 from the 4-20 mission was swapped with B1067.6. [100] | ||||||||||
58 | Group 3-4 | v1.5 | 2022-105 | 31 August 2022, 05:40:10 [101] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 560 km (350 mi) | 97.6° | 46 | 46 | Success |
59 | Group 4-20 | v1.5 | 2022-107 | 5 September 2022, 02:09:40 [102] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 51 | 51 | Success |
Rideshare satellites: Sherpa-LTC2 carried a sole hosted payload will be Boeing's Varuna Technology Demonstration Mission, a pathfinder for a planned constellation of broadband satellites. | ||||||||||
60 | Group 4-2 | v1.5 | 2022-111 | 11 September 2022, 01:20 [103] | KSC, LC-39A | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 34 | 34 | Success |
Rideshare satellites: BlueWalker-3 was released into a 513 km circular orbit. [103] | ||||||||||
61 | Group 4-34 | v1.5 | 2022-114 | 19 September 2022, 00:18:40 [104] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 54 | 54 | Success |
62 | Group 4-35 | v1.5 | 2022-119 | 24 September 2022, 23:32:10 [105] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 52 | 52 | Success |
63 | Group 4-29 | v1.5 | 2022-125 | 5 October 2022, 23:10:30 [106] | VSFB, SLC-4E | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 52 | 52 | Success |
Set a new record for the shortest time between two Falcon 9 launches at 7 hours and 10 minutes. | ||||||||||
64 | Group 4-36 | v1.5 | 2022-136 | 20 October 2022, 14:50:40 [107] | CCSFS, SLC-40 | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 54 | 54 | Success |
65 | Group 4-31 | v1.5 | 2022-141 | 28 October 2022, 01:14 | VSFB, SLC-4E | 540 km (340 mi) | 53.2° | 53 | 53 | Success |
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of reducing space transportation costs to enable the colonization of Mars. The company manufactures the Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Starship launch vehicles, several rocket engines, Cargo Dragon and Crew Dragon spacecraft, and Starlink communications satellites.
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
Space Launch Complex 4 (SLC-4) is a launch and landing site at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, U.S. It has two pads, both of which are used by SpaceX for Falcon 9, one for launch operations, and other as Landing Zone 4 (LZ-4) for SpaceX landings.
Falcon Heavy is a partially reusable heavy-lift launch vehicle that is produced by SpaceX, an American aerospace manufacturer. The rocket consists of two strap-on boosters made from Falcon 9 first stages, a center core also made from a Falcon 9 first stage, and a second stage on top. Falcon Heavy has the second highest payload capacity of any currently operational launch vehicle behind NASA's Space Launch System and the fourth-highest capacity of any rocket to reach orbit, trailing the Saturn V, Energia and Space Launch System.
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SpaceX is privately funding the development of orbital launch systems that can be reused many times, in a manner similar to the reusability of aircraft. SpaceX has been developing the technologies over several years to facilitate full and rapid reusability of space launch vehicles. The project's long-term objectives include returning a launch vehicle first stage to the launch site in minutes and to return a second stage to the launch pad following orbital realignment with the launch site and atmospheric reentry in up to 24 hours. SpaceX's long term goal is that both stages of their orbital launch vehicle will be designed to allow reuse a few hours after return.
Planet Labs PBC is an American public Earth imaging company based in San Francisco, California. Their goal is to image the entirety of the Earth daily to monitor changes and pinpoint trends.
An autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) is an ocean-going vessel derived from a deck barge, outfitted with station-keeping engines and a large landing platform and is autonomously controlled when on station for a landing. Construction of such ships was commissioned by aerospace company SpaceX to allow recovery of launch vehicle first stages at sea for missions that do not carry enough fuel to return to the launch site after boosting spacecraft onto an orbital or interplanetary trajectory.
Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by SpaceX, providing satellite Internet access coverage to 40 countries. It also aims for global mobile phone service after 2023. SpaceX started launching Starlink satellites in 2019. As of September 2022, Starlink consists of over 3,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), which communicate with designated ground transceivers. In total, nearly 12,000 satellites are planned to be deployed, with a possible later extension to 42,000. Starlink provides internet access to over 500,000 subscribers as of June 2022.
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Paz is a Spanish Earth observation and reconnaissance satellite launched on 22 February 2018. It is Spain's first spy satellite. The satellite is operated by Hisdesat. Paz was previously referred to as SEOSAR.
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Space Exploration Holdings, LLC seeks to modify its Ku/Ka-band NGSO license to relocate satellites previously authorized to operate at an altitude of 1,150 km (710 mi) to an altitude of 550 km (340 mi), and to make related changes to the operations of the satellites in this new lower shell of the constellationThis article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .
lower the orbit of nearly 1,600 of its proposed broadband satellites. The Federal Communications Commission said 26 April 2019 it was correct with SpaceX changing its plans to orbit those satellites at 550 km (340 mi) instead of 1,150 km (710 mi). SpaceX says the adjustment, requested six months ago, will make a safer space environment, since any defunct satellites at the lower altitude would reenter the Earth's atmosphere in five years even without propulsion. The lower orbit also means more distance between Starlink and competing Internet constellations proposed by OneWeb and Telesat. FCC approval allows satellite companies to provide communications services in the United States. The agency granted SpaceX market access in March 2018 for 4,425 satellites using Ku-band and Ka-band spectrum, and authorized 7,518 V-band satellites in November 2018. SpaceX's modified plans apply to the smaller of the two constellations