SpaceX launching 60 Starlink Sats Tomorrow!

[GordMay]

SpaceX successfully launched another batch of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit Monday, February 17/20, but missed a milestone rocket landing, on what was the company's fourth flight of the year. This Starlink mission was the 80th SpaceX launch. The company is now flying 300 Starlink satellites. The Starlink network will initially comprise 1,584 satellites, all operating in low Earth orbit. But SpaceX has approval from the Federal Communications Commission to operate 12,000 satellites and plans to seek permission for up to 30,000 more, totaling 42,000 spacecraft. They will need at least 400 satellites in orbit, to provide minimal coverage, and at least 800 to provide moderate coverage. With 300 now in orbit, that coverage could begin sometime this year.

The potential launch of tens of thousands of satellites is a serious threat to astronomy, according to the International Astronomical Union (IAU).
Now, they’re trying to find solutions.
➥ https://www.iau.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iau2001/

[GTom]

Originally Posted by KTP

They are flying in a "ocean" far bigger than the surface of the earth since they are several hundred miles above the surface (bigger radius).

There are thousands of boats on just the Pacific Ocean at any one time and yet a person can sail for weeks without seeing anyone.

Don't be a Luddite.

Afraid my boat covers far less distance in a day than a satellite in a couple seconds...

[BazzaJLP]

This subject is interesting...

The unfortunate reality is that many companies have identified the advantages of LEO satellite constellations. With smaller, lower powered antennas required on earth it means a far greater customer demographic leading to and increased chance of successful business.

OneWeb just went into chapter 11 but as they've already launched a large number of satellites and already have the ground infrastructure in place, I've no doubt they will get bought out and lead to success.

Reality is; in the next five years there will mostly likely be more than triple the number of satellites in space compared to today. IoT companies around the globe are already implementing services that will only succeed with the use of LEO satellites, a prime example will be the expansive coverage of 5G cellular technology.

Using an 85cm antenna, throughput speeds are possible of 100mbps upload and download which is like nothing ever experienced before from such a small antenna.

All we can do in the mean time is enjoy the benefits of global satellite broadband connectivity at affordable pricing. Look up into space now and grab some pictures.... It wont be like this for long

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Bazza'.

[BazzaJLP]

Cheers Gord thanks for the kind welcome

[mikedefieslife]

Originally Posted by BazzaJLP

OneWeb just went into chapter 11 but as they've already launched a large number of satellites and already have the ground infrastructure in place, I've no doubt they will get bought out and lead to success.

I saw that. It’s interesting they files in the US rather than the UK. If no-one comes forward then the satellites become property of the UK government. Unfortunately I can’t see the current administration putting them to any good use.

[Chotu]

The latest

https://earther.gizmodo.com/spacex-s...1844483615/amp

[Etalon]

The picture in the above linked article imo has been faked or deliberately planned with multiple exposures to show that many streaks.

I am not an expert in orbital mechanics, but I know enough about the orbital shells they have been injected into that this photo is very misleading, and I would suggest deliberately so.

It is certainly made from multiple short exposures, that is clear simply from some of the streaks being different lengths. All the satellites are traveling essentially at the same speed.

Another obvious one is density. That number of satellites in such a small patch of sky would be quite a waste.

This looks like multiple short exposures over several satellite passes, possibly over a few days.

[GordMay]

The death of darkness

As companies fill low-Earth orbit with thousands of communication satellites, space is becoming a new region of environmental dissent. Astronomers, amateur stargazers, photographers, and Indigenous leaders are among those pitted against the proponents of ‘megaconstellations’, that aim to offer global broadband.
After a confab, with astronomers at the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, SpaceX engineers managed to reduce the light bouncing off some of the company’s Starlink satellites, by giving them a sun shade. But debate continues over who will decide the fate of the high skies.

“The fault in our stars” ~ by Joshua Sokol
Satellite swarms are threatening the night sky. Is low-Earth orbit the next great crucible of environmental conflict?
➥ https://www.science.org/content/arti...ental-conflict






In November 2019, a Starlink satellite train was visible over Cerro Tololo in Chile (first image).
It left streaks on the Blanco telescope’s wide-field camera (second image). Images:
First: CTIO/NOIRLAB/NSF/AURA;
Second: CTIO/NOIRLAB/NSF/AURA/DECAM DELVE SURVEY
➥ https://noirlab.edu/public/images/iotw1946a/

[CaptTom]

I'm conflicted about LEO satellites for internet access. I'm a bit of a stargazer, and I hate light pollution. But I also hate my current cable provider (who has the local monopoly on broadband.) Another option would be good.

That article didn't help. When I note that those pictures are of the satellite "train" of 60 satellites right after launch, I have to assume the author is intentionally exaggerating the problem. I'm not going to draw a conclusion based on potentially biased articles.

Our world is full of unsightly infrastructure. I'd like to live in a pristine environment. But if I won't volunteer to be one of the billions who need to die to achieve that, I won't deny that infrastructure to others.

Maybe we could get Musk to launch some space telescopes above the LEO mess?

[GordMay]

China's space station has had to dodge SpaceX Starlink satellites twice

Elon Musk's growing broadband satellite mega-constellation is getting the wrong kind of international attention. Earlier this month, China filed, what amounts to an official complaint [1], with the United Nations, over what it says were two close calls between its space station and SpaceX Starlink satellites.
"For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control on July 1 and October 21, 2021, respectively.", China said in the diplomatic note [1].

"As the (Starlink) satellite was continuously maneuvering, the maneuver strategy was unknown and orbital errors were hard to be assessed, there was thus a collision risk between the Starlink-2305 satellite and the China Space Station. To ensure the safety and lives of in-orbit astronauts, the China Space Station performed an evasive maneuver again on the same day to avoid a potential collision between the two spacecraft."

This is not the first international incident involving a SpaceX satellite. In 2019, a European spacecraft had to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid coming too close to a Starlink satellite. SpaceX cited "a bug in our on-call paging system" that caused a communications breakdown leading to the incident.

SpaceX has so far launched almost 1,900 Starlink satellites, for its global broadband service and has a license to deploy a constellation made up of over 12,000 satellites.

[1] “Information furnished in conformity with the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies” ~ Note verbale dated 3 December 2021 from the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna) addressed to the Secretary-General
➥ https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/d...C105_1262E.pdf

[earthbm]

So by now I imagine someone here must've installed Starlink at home and tried it for coastal cruising? Does it require a fixed terrestrial spot, or can it deal with the boats' motion?

[MartinR]

Originally Posted by GordMay

China's space station has had to dodge SpaceX Starlink satellites twice

Elon Musk's growing broadband satellite mega-constellation is getting the wrong kind of international attention. Earlier this month, China filed, what amounts to an official complaint [1], with the United Nations, over what it says were two close calls between its space station and SpaceX Starlink satellites.
"For safety reasons, the China Space Station implemented preventive collision avoidance control on July 1 and October 21, 2021, respectively.", China said in the diplomatic note [1].

"As the (Starlink) satellite was continuously maneuvering, the maneuver strategy was unknown and orbital errors were hard to be assessed, there was thus a collision risk between the Starlink-2305 satellite and the China Space Station. To ensure the safety and lives of in-orbit astronauts, the China Space Station performed an evasive maneuver again on the same day to avoid a potential collision between the two spacecraft."

This is not the first international incident involving a SpaceX satellite. In 2019, a European spacecraft had to perform an evasive maneuver to avoid coming too close to a Starlink satellite. SpaceX cited "a bug in our on-call paging system" that caused a communications breakdown leading to the incident.

SpaceX has so far launched almost 1,900 Starlink satellites, for its global broadband service and has a license to deploy a constellation made up of over 12,000 satellites.

[1] “Information furnished in conformity with the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies” ~ Note verbale dated 3 December 2021 from the Permanent Mission of China to the United Nations (Vienna) addressed to the Secretary-General
➥ https://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/d...C105_1262E.pdf

Actually the descending Starlink satellite performed an avoidance maneuver, as can be seen from tracking info, and it looks as if there never was any risk of collision. Chinese misinformation. They are not happy about competition, and definitely not happy about any network that might give their citizens the possibility to avoid Internet censure.

[Letterkenny]

Originally Posted by earthbm

So by now I imagine someone here must've installed Starlink at home and tried it for coastal cruising? Does it require a fixed terrestrial spot, or can it deal with the boats' motion?

I believe it requires a GPS position to work which I suppose you could spoof. There’s a couple installs out there that you can Google but haven’t seen any on boats that actually move. Also, anticipate the cost to be more than $100 when it does come out for marine use.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by earthbm

So by now I imagine someone here must've installed Starlink at home and tried it for coastal cruising? Does it require a fixed terrestrial spot, or can it deal with the boats' motion?

They're geolocked to a small area for now, so at best you could use it at the dock and for a couple minutes on the way out.