Pięć tuzinów Starlinków 24.05. o 02:30 z Cape Canaveral wystrzelona zostanie RN Falcon 9R, która wyniosła w T+46' 14" na orbitę o parametrach: hp=440 km,
ha=440 km, i=?° 60 satelitów testowych konstelacji Starlink. W T+8' 17" pierwszy stopień RN wylądował na barce
ASDS OCISLY na Atlantyku.
http://lk.astronautilus.pl/n190516.htm#04Pierwsza paczka Starlink na orbicie BY KRZYSZTOF KANAWKA ON 24 MAJA 2019
Start Falcona 9 z satelitami Starlink - 24.05.2019 / Credits - SpaceXDwudziestego czwartego maja firma SpaceX z sukcesem umieściła 60 satelitów konstelacji Starlink na orbicie.
Do startu rakiety Falcon 9 z satelitami Starlink doszło 24 maja o godzinie 04:30 CEST. Start nastąpił z wyrzutni LC-40 na przylądku Canaveral. Lot rakiety Falcon 9 przebiegł prawidłowo i satelity Starlink znalazły się na odpowiedniej orbicie wstępnej o nachyleniu około 53 stopni. Po skończonej pracy pierwszy stopień udanie wylądował na platformie morskiej.
Start rakiety Falcon 9 z satelitami Starlink – 24.05.2019 / Credits – SpaceX
Z reguły starty rakiety Falcon 9 wywołują duże zainteresowanie z uwagi na lądowanie pierwszego stopnia po wykonanej pracy. Tym razem fakt udanego lądowania wydaje się być na drugim planie – na pierwszym zaś był ładunek tego lotu.
Pierwszy stopień Falcona 9 po udanym lądowaniu – 24.05.2019 / Credits – SpaceXW tym starcie na pokładzie rakiety Falcon 9 znalazło się aż 60 satelitów konstelacji Starlink. Był to pierwszy start dla Starlink – konstelacji, którą firma SpaceX chce szybko zbudować i zacząć oferować usługi telekomunikacyjne. Ten start był jednocześnie najcięższym dotychczasowym ładunkiem dla Falcona 9 (łączna masa startowa ponad 13 ton) oraz największą liczbą satelitów wyniesionych w jednym starcie przez firmę SpaceX (60).
Co ciekawe, wszystkie satelity Starlink zostały uwolnione w jednym momencie, co jest dość nietypowe. Zwykle podczas startów z wieloma satelitami następuje stopniowe (albo też “jednostajne” w dłuższym okresie czasu) uwalnianie satelitów. W tym przypadku wszystkie satelity jednocześnie opuściły górny stopień Falcona 9, po czym powoli zaczęły się od siebie oddalać.
Uwolnienie konstelacji Starlink – 24.05.2019 / Credits – SpaceXNa tym nie koniec ciekawostek związanych z satelitami Starlink. Górny stopień Falcona 9 umieścił te satelity na wstępnej orbicie o wysokości około 440 km. Około pięć i pół godziny po starcie każdy z satelitów Starlink uruchomił swój silnik jonowy typu Halla (napędzany kryptonem) i rozpoczął podwyższanie orbity. Docelowo satelity mają operować z wysokości 550 km.
Łącznie SpaceX ma zamiar użyć trzech “powłok” dla swojej konstelacji: około 7500 satelitów ma operować na niskiej orbicie o wysokości około 340 km, 1600 na orbicie o wysokości około 550 km i 2900 na orbicie o wysokości 1150 km. Niektóre środowiska naukowe branży kosmicznej uważają, że ta ostatnia “powłoka” może być bardzo niebezpieczna z uwagi na swoją dużą wysokość oraz obecność innych “kosmicznych śmieci”. W tej kwestii z pewnością niebawem będą musiały zostać wprowadzone regulacje, gdyż nie tylko SpaceX ma zamiar zbudować swoje “mega konstelacje” satelitarne.
Dwa kolejne starty konstelacji Starlink są planowane jeszcze na ten rok.
(PFA, S-X)
https://kosmonauta.net/2019/05/pierwsza-paczka-starlink-na-orbicie/SpaceX postpones Starlink launch to update satellite softwareMay 17, 2019 Stephen Clark
(...) “This is one of the hardest engineering projects I’ve ever seen done, and it’s been executed really well,” Musk said. “There is a lot of new technology here, and it’s possible that some of these satellites may not work, and in fact a small possibility that all the satellites will not work.
“We don’t want to count anything until it’s hatched, but these are, I think, a great design and we’ve done everything we can to maximize the probability of success,” he said. (...)
https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/05/17/spacex-postpones-starlink-launch-to-update-satellite-software/SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites, begins constellation buildoutby Caleb Henry — May 23, 2019
After launching two prototypes last year, SpaceX conducted its first launch of a large batch of Starlink satellites May 23 on a Falcon 9 rocket. Credit: SpaceX webcast.WASHINGTON — SpaceX launched the first 60 satellites for an internet constellation that could ultimately number 12,000 on a Falcon 9 rocket Thursday night.
The rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida at 10:30 p.m. Eastern, and deployed the satellites into a low Earth orbit a little over an hour later.
SpaceX previously planned the launch for early May, but the mission was pushed back due to knock-on delays from an earlier resupply mission to the International Space Station that had its own schedule slips. Upper-level winds delayed the Starlink launch again last week, as did additional time SpaceX elected to take for software checks on the satellites.
The 60 satellites mark the beginning of SpaceX’s deployment of a global internet megaconstellation intended to generate more revenue to fuel the company’s interplanetary ambitions.
Each Starlink satellite launched May 23 weighs roughly 227 kilograms. Collectively they are expected to deliver 1 terabit per second of usable capacity, and 2.5 to 3 terabits per second of total capacity.
SpaceX landed the booster that launched the satellites 9 minutes after liftoff on the droneship “Of Course I Still Love You,” in the Atlantic Ocean. The same Falcon 9 first stage previously launched the Telstar 18 Vantage satellite to geostationary orbit in September 2018, and 10 Iridium Next satellites to low Earth orbit this January.
SpaceX deployed the Starlink satellites collectively from the upper stage, allowing the satellites to drift off using their own inertia instead of springs or another conventional deployment mechanism. The satellites collectively weighed 13.6 metric tons, making this launch the heaviest mission for SpaceX to date.
The launch deployed the Starlink satellites into a 440-kilometer orbit. From there, the spacecraft will use Krypton-fueled electric propulsion thrusters to reach their target operational altitude of 550 kilometers.
SpaceX received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission in late April to operate some of its satellites at that lower orbit instead of 1,150 kilometers as previously planned.
The lower orbit means less signal lag, and also ensures that atmospheric drag will pull satellites down in five years or less, reducing the risk of space debris from any damaged or defunct spacecraft, SpaceX said.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, in a call with reporters last week, said the Starlink satellites will also automatically maneuver around orbital debris by using Air Force tracking data uploaded directly to each spacecraft.
Musk said Starlink will be able to start partial service with around 400 satellites, and will reach “significant operational capability” at around 800 satellites. Once the constellation reaches 1,000 spacecraft, it will become “economically viable,” he said.
SpaceX intends to do three to seven Starlink launches this year, counting this mission, according to Gwynne Shotwell, company president and COO. The exact number depends on the success of this first mission, she said.
Musk emphasized that while SpaceX has taken significant measures to make sure the Starlink satellites work, the early spacecraft have lots of new technology and could fail.
“It’s possible that some of these satellites may not work, and in fact it’s possible that, [there’s a] small possibility that all of the satellites will not work,” he said. “But these are a great design and we’ve done everything we can to maximize probability of success.”
Some of that new technology includes propulsion systems that run on krypton instead of the typical xenon fuel. Musk said krypton proved less expensive than xenon, making it SpaceX’s preferred fuel.
SpaceX is using two different deployment mechanisms for the Starlink solar arrays — each satellite has just one solar array — which carries some risk, Musk said. There is also a risk that the onboard phased array antennas may not function as efficiently as intended, he said.
SpaceX’s first Starlink satellites are scaled down from what the company intends to fly later. Shotwell said the satellites launching in this first bulk deployment lack intersatellite links that later iterations will carry.
Musk said SpaceX plans to evolve the design of the Starlink satellites over time. Ideally, new technology will make older Starlink satellites obsolete in about five years, at which point SpaceX would deorbit them and launch new, more capable versions, he said.
SpaceX wants to use Starlink to provide internet access to people either unreached by current infrastructure or with limited options for connectivity. Musk said SpaceX will likely start commercial sales late this year or early next year.
Musk said it wouldn’t surprise him to see SpaceX launch 1,000 to 2,000 Starlink satellites a year using its Falcon family of launchers. The constellation doesn’t need 12,000 satellites to constitute a win, he said, but that would mark a “very successful outcome.”
https://spacenews.com/spacex-launches-60-starlink-satellites-begins-constellation-buildout/Record-Setting Falcon 9 Launches First 60 Starlink Satellites to OrbitBy Ben Evans, on May 24th, 2019
Like a gigantic stack of cards, the Starlink payload proved a “tight fit” into the Upgraded Falcon 9 fairing, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Photo Credit: SpaceX/TwitterFor the fourth time in 2019, SpaceX launched in the hours of darkness late Thursday, 23 May, to deliver its first 60 Starlink communications satellites into low-Earth orbit. Tipping the scales in excess of 30,000 pounds (13,620 kg)—the heaviest payload ever lofted by the Hawthorne, Calif.-headquartered launch services organization, according to CEO Elon Musk—the Upgraded Falcon 9 booster roared aloft from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 10:30 p.m. EDT. (...)
Operating at such low altitude, of course, are expected to cause the Starlink birds to suffer from exceptionally high levels of atmospheric drag. SpaceX has previously indicated that the satellites’ useful lives will range from five to seven years apiece, after which they will be propulsively maneuvered, via their krypton-fed Hall electric thrusters, into “disposal” orbits for controlled re-entry within 12 months of ending their missions. In its official Starlink press kit, SpaceX highlighted the satellites’ “simplified design” and noted that each is equipped with a Startracker precision-pointing system and the capacity to track orbital debris and autonomously execute collision-avoidance. “Additionally,” the SpaceX preview notes indicated, “95 percent of all components of this design will quickly burn in Earth’s atmosphere at the end of each satellite’s lifecycle—exceeding all current safety standards—with future iterative designs moving to complete disintegration.” (...)
https://www.americaspace.com/2019/05/24/record-setting-falcon-9-launches-first-60-starlink-satellites-to-orbit/Artykuły astronautycznehttps://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/starlink-v0-9.htm