Last Tuesday, visionary Elon Musk’s company SpaceX successfully carried out another mission, during which 22 satellites of the Internet constellation Starlink under construction reached the earth’s orbit. Already tonight, five minutes after three o’clock our time, the Falcon 9 rocket should take off with another similar batch of satellites. If it is successfully implemented, the number of launched satellites will already exceed 5,000 in the statistics. This will actually happen 5.5 years after SpaceX launched the first two Starlink test satellites into orbit in February 2018. The real construction of the network then began in May, more than a year later, i.e. the first Starlink satellites designed for sharp operation then entered space in November.
While the usual way of building an internet network, which according to the latest plans is to have less than 12 thousand satellites, about 50-60 satellites were launched, now the number is barely a third. SpaceX came up with a new, more powerful second generation of Starlinks called V2. They were originally planned to be launched using the Starship, but it is still in development/testing. The V2 satellites are thus far in the “mini” version, their size nevertheless reaches a significant 4.1×2.7 meters, or each of the two solar panels has a size of 12.8×4.1 meters. Compared to the original version, the satellite is roughly three times heavier, weighing 800 kg. However, they make it possible to provide 4 times higher transmission capacity. The installed new Hall engines have 2.4 times higher thrust and are the first ever satellites to use argon fuel instead of krypton.
The current batch of Starlinks is intended for the fifth orbital shell of the constellation at an altitude of 530 km. There are supposed to be 2,500 of them in total, their number is currently approaching a thousand. Of the mentioned 5 thousand in any case, there are not nearly as many satellites launched into orbit, as some failed to be successfully activated for their purpose and were subsequently directed into the atmosphere, where they burned up. We can also recall the unsuccessful mission last February, when most of the 49 Starlinks launched at the time were negatively affected by a geomagnetic storm from the Sun. They subsequently failed to reach their higher orbit. In short, SpaceX currently operates 4,640 Starlinks in orbit, of which over 3,900 should now be in active operation.
The current placement of Starlink satellites can be watched below live from Saturday to Sunday from approx. 2:50 a.m., or later from the record. It can be mentioned that the landing of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket should take place in the Atlantic Ocean on a floating autonomous platform Just Read the Instructions.
SpaceX’s seventh manned mission
SpaceX’s activities also continue for NASA, among others. Business in short, it’s having a very lively week, when already at night from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Dragon ship with four passengers on board headed to the International Space Station (ISS) with the help of a Falcon 9 rocket. An autonomous connection to the ISS is planned a few hours after the aforementioned “Starlink mission”, or on Sunday 14:39 our time. You can watch the live broadcast below from about 1 p.m.
Starship on the scene again
As is well known, Elon Musk plans to realize the conquest of space mainly thanks to the reusable Starship spacecraft he is developing. In the future, it should be able to transport a load of at least 100 tons to the Earth’s orbit with the help of a Super Heavy launch vehicle, or provide trips to the moon, Mars or “elsewhere”. At the Boca Chica test area near the border with Mexico, SpaceX is preparing its second flight in a row. The first mission in April was considered a success, although the Super Heavy suffered multiple engine failures and failed to separate the Starship from the launch vehicle. However, SpaceX has obtained a lot of important data and knowledge, so now it should move further, i.e. “higher” in its testing. So the separation of the Starship and its possible return back into the atmosphere should happen.
It is possible to mention the gigantic dimensions of the entire colossus – a diameter of 9 meters and a height of 120 meters. The weight should be something around 5,000 tons, when the majority (about 4,500 tons) is made up of fuel. Over three-quarters liquid oxygen, the rest liquid methane.
Preparations for the flight, which is tentatively scheduled for September 8, continue intensively. On Friday, the so-called static ignition of the Super Heavy rocket was successful.
Jiří Zendulka
In the field of finance Jiří Zendulka has been moving since the days of coupon privatization, so already 30 years. He worked in various positions at stockbrokers, in order to establish himself as an analyst. He has been presenting his views in the media for a long time. A follower of the traditional values of capitalism, or on the contrary, a critic of most non-standard interventions in economies by governments and central banks.
2023-08-26 12:55:29
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