Falcon 9 | Starlink Group 6-15 | 20.07.2023

[Lion97]

Numer misji   #252   
Data   20 lipca 2023, 06:09:30 czasu polskiego
Lądowanie   udane
Okno startowe   natychmiastowe
Materiały prasowe      Starlink Group 6-15 Press Kit
Miejsce startu   VSFB SLC-4E 
Miejsce lądowania   OCISLY
Rakieta   Falcon 9 Block 5
Booster   1071.10
Ładunek   15 satelitów Starlink V2 Mini
Masa ładunku   ok. 12000 kg
Docelowa orbita   LEO
Klient   SpaceX

Starlink Group 6-15 (Starlink-93) to kolejna misja podczas której na orbitę wyniesione zostały satelity budowanej przez SpaceX konstelacji Starlink w nowej wersji. Są to satelity o masie około 800 kg nazywane przez SpaceX Starlink V2 Mini, oznaczone w dokumentach przekazanych do Federalnej Komisji Łączności (FCC) jako F9-2. Jest to mniejsza wersja mających ważyć około 2000 kg satelitów Starlink V2 przeznaczonych do większych osłon ładunku rakiety Starship. Mniejszą wersję zaprojektowano tak, aby satelity mieściły się w osłonie ładunku rakiety Falcon 9.

Nowe satelity są wyposażone w anteny o większej mocy oraz mogą dodatkowo pracować w pasmie E, co pozwoliło na około czterokrotne zwiększenie przepustowości w porównaniu do poprzedniej wersji. Znacząco usprawniono także system napędu. Są w nim wykorzystywane jonowe silniki Halla napędzane argonem, które w porównaniu do poprzedników mają ponad dwukrotnie wyższy ciąg i o połowę wyższy impuls właściwy. Jest to pierwszy w historii silnik zasilany argonem wykorzystywany w przestrzeni kosmicznej.

Na szczycie rakiety znalazło się 15 satelitów, trafiły one na niską orbitę okołoziemską (LEO) o inklinacji 43°.

źródło

[Lion97]

Falcon 9 wystartował z 15 satelitami Starlink z SLC-4E w Kalifornii.

https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1681927842169487360

[Orionid]

Wszystkie loty B1071 odbyły się z Vandenberg.
Minimalna ilość Starlinków operacyjnych w czasie dedykowanego startu.

Kolejne Starlinki na orbicie
  20.07. o 04:09:30 z Vandenberg wystrzelona została RN Falcon-9R. Wyniosła ona na orbitę 15 satelitów telekomunikacyjnych Starlink Mini (misja Starlink 6-15). Pierwszy stopień RN (B1071.10) w T+8' 26" wylądował na barce ASDS OCISLY na Pacyfiku.
http://lk.astronautilus.pl/n230716.htm#04

SpaceX Starlink 93 launch and Falcon 9 first stage landing, 20 July 2023


https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1682040066359836678
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1682109433206415361
https://twitter.com/Raul74Cz/status/1681300192757415936

5:49 AM · Jul 19, 2023

F9/Starlink 6-15: Good evening; we're standing by for launch of 15 Starlink 2nd-generation "mini" internet satellites atop a Falcon 9 rocket at Vandenberg SFB; liftoff from pad 4E is set for 12:34:50am EDT (0434 UTC)

https://twitter.com/cbs_spacenews/status/1681511576870834177

F9/Starlink 6-15: We spoke too soon; SpaceX is evaluating a new launch time; standing by for an update

F9/Starlink 6-15: New T-0 is 1:25:20am EDT (0525 UTC)

F9/Starlink 6-15: Launch director confirms go for propellant load and launch

F9/Starlink 6-15: This will be the 48th Falcon 9-family launch this year, the 246th overall and the 240th single-stick F9 flight; booster B1071 is making its 10th flight; a successful droneship recovery would be SpaceX's 208th overall and its 164th at sea

F9/Starlink 6-15: The 15 Starlinks stacked in the F9's nose fairing are the 1st 2nd-gen minis to launch from the West Coast; They'll boost the total number of Starlinks launched to date to 4,837, 1,171 this year alone

F9/Starlink 6-15: Abort!

F9/Starlink 6-15: The countdown stopped at T-minus 5 seconds; no explanation yet, but launch director says the vehicle is safe and propellant off loading in work; no word on when SpaceX might make another attempt

F9/Starlink 6-15: Earlier in the count, a possible problem with the rocket's 2nd stage was noted on the flight control loop and the launch time was moved to the day's 2nd opportunity at 1:25am; the rocket then was cleared for flight

F9/Starlink 6-15: Will advise whenever SpaceX provides an update

5:10 AM · Jul 20, 2023
F9/Starlink 6-15: 24 hours after an abort at T-minus 5 seconds early Wednesday, SpaceX is making another run at launching a Falcon 9 carrying 15 2nd-gen Starlink internet satellites; liftoff from pad 4E at Vandenberg SFB is targeted for 12:09:30am EDT (0409 UTC)

F9/Starlink 6-15: Repeating, this will be the 48th Falcon 9-family launch this year, the 246th overall and the 240th single-stick F9 flight; booster B1071 is making its 10th flight; a successful droneship recovery would be SpaceX's 208th overall and its 164th at sea

F9/Starlink 6-15: Launch director is go for propellant load and launch

F9/Starlink 6-15: LIFTOFF! At 12:09:30am EDT (0409 UTC)

F9/Starlink 6-15: 1st stage engine shutdown, stage separation and 2nd stage engine ignition confirmed; the 1st stage is still cimbing, but heading for touchdown on a SpaceX droneship stationed several hundred miles downrange

F9/Starlink 6-15: 1st stage apogee was 180 km; vehicle now descending back toward the lower atmosphere; 2nd stage burn continuing

F9/Starlink 6-15: 1st stage entry burn complete

F9/Starlink 6-15: 2nd stage engine shutdown; good orbit confirmed; Starlink deploy expected in about 6 minutes

F9/Starlink 6-15: 1st stage landing confirmed, on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship; this was SpaceX's 164th booster recovery at sea, its 208th overall and its 134th successful recovery in a row

F9/Starlink 6-15: Starlink deploy should have occurred by now (12:24am EDT), but SpaceX warned confirmation likely would be delayed until acquisition of signal at a downrange ground station

F9/Starlink 6-15: Acquisition of signal through South Africa; SpaceX confirms Starlink deploy

https://spaceflightnow.com/2023/07/20/falcon-9-punches-through-fog-on-first-west-coast-launch-of-starlink-2nd-generation-satellites/

Launch Scrub: “Old Guard” Falcon 9 Aborts at T-5 Seconds
by Ben Evans July 19, 2023
https://www.americaspace.com/2023/07/19/launch-scrub-old-guard-falcon-9-aborts-at-t-5-seconds/

After Daylong Delay, Vandenberg Falcon Launches, Lands for Tenth Time
by Ben Evans July 20, 2023

(...) B1071 logged nine treks to space between February 2022 and last month, becoming the first long-term, dedicated “Vandenberg Falcon”. Although several prior Falcon 9s had flown from SLC-4E, they had done so only a couple of times, or had alternated between the West and East Coasts; B1071 has spent her entire career to date at Vandenberg. (...)

Aboard B1071 for last night’s mission was the first 15-strong stack of “V2 Mini” satellites to fly from Vandenberg and the sixth overall batch of these downsized Starlinks to have been orbited since February. The Minis boast three to four times greater “usable” bandwidth than earlier Starlink iterations.

“V2 Minis include key technologies—such as more powerful phased-array antennas and the use of E-Band for backhaul—which will allow Starlink to provide 4x more capacity per satellite than earlier iterations,” SpaceX explained. “Among other enhancements, V2 Minis are equipped with new argon Hall thrusters for on-orbit maneuvering.” (...)
https://www.americaspace.com/2023/07/20/after-daylong-delay-vandenberg-falcon-launches-lands-for-tenth-time/

SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink v2 Mini satellites on a Falcon 9 as part the Group 6-15 mission Wednesday evening, July 19, from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. An attempt on Tuesday night was scrubbed after an abort at T-5 seconds due to “an alert on the second stage”

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2023/07/launch-roundup-071723/

Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-1 (Starlink 30240) (~750 kg ?) https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/starlink-v2-mini.htm
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-2 (Starlink 30192)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-3 (Starlink 30195)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-4 (Starlink 30207)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-5 (Starlink 30205)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-6 (Starlink 30222)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-7 (Starlink 30172)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-8 (Starlink 30214)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-9 (Starlink 30182)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-10 (Starlink 30191)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-11 (Starlink 30193)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-12 (Starlink 30208)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-13 (Starlink 30224)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-14 (Starlink 30043)
Starlink v2-Mini G6-15-15 (Starlink 30221)