SpaceX Starlink flight 1 - Falcon 9-072 (B1048.4) - CCAFS SLC-40 - 24.05.2019, 02:30 UTC

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SpaceX‏Подлинная учетная запись @SpaceX 6 ч. назад

The booster supporting this mission previously flew in support of the Telstar 18 VANTAGE and Iridium-8 missions

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SpaceX рассказала о возможностях своих спутников Starlink



Ранее на этой неделе Илон Маск показал фотографию ракеты Falcon 9, загруженной несколькими десятками компактных интернет-коммуникационных спутников проекта Starlink. 60 аппаратов, которые будут запущены 16 мая на низкую околоземную орбиту, довольно плотно разместились в головной части ракеты-носителя. Сегодня SpaceX поделилась некоторыми деталями о том, как эти спутники будут работать.
Каждая несущая спутниковая панель содержит несколько антенн с высокой пропускной способностью и одну солнечную панель. Вес каждого спутника составляет всего 227 килограммов. Другими словами, они очень легкие и компактные. Но несмотря на свой размер и вес, аппараты оснащены самыми передовыми космическими технологиями.
Каждый спутник обрадован холловским (электрическим двигателем), работающим на газе криптоне. Эти двигатели спутники будут использовать для ориентации в пространстве, а также корректировки высоты орбиты. Помимо этого, каждый спутник оснащен навигационной системой Startracker, которая позволит SpaceX знать точное расположение каждого аппарата и направлять их в нужную точку пространства.
На околоземной орбите находится очень много космического мусора (оставшиеся после запусков части ракет, не упавшие и не сгоревшие в атмосфере, нефункционирующие спутники, огромное количество различного микромусора), поэтому существует риск столкновения. Однако каждый спутник Starlink способен отслеживать околоземный мусор и при необходимости в автоматическом режиме изменять свою орбиту, избегая тем самым вероятность столкновения.
Нельзя не отметить еще одну очень важную деталь. SpaceX подошла очень ответственно к вопросу вероятности возникновения нового космического мусора. Каждый спутник на 95 процентов выполнен из материалов, которые без проблем сгорят в земной атмосфере планеты после того, как аппараты отработают свой заложенный ресурс. В будущем компания собирается производить спутники из 100-процентно сгораемых материалов.
Напомним, что запуск ракеты-носителя Falcon 9 с 60 спутниками Starlink должен состояться рано утром 16 мая. Однако у компании имеется резервное окно на следующий день, на случай если запуск придется перенести из-за плохой погоды (что бывало часто в практике SpaceX). Запуск 60 спутников положит начало созданию сети спутниковой интернета Starlink, которая в общей сложности будет насчитывать около 12 000 аппаратов. Запуск всех спутников компания рассчитывает провести до середины 2020-х годов.

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Chris B - NSF‏ @NASASpaceflight 52 мин. назад

ARTICLE:
First Starlink mission to be heaviest payload launch by SpaceX to date -

https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2019/05/first-starlink-mission-heaviest-payload-launch-spacex/ ...

- By Chris Gebhardt (@ChrisG_NSF)

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/05/15/falcon-9-launch-timeline-for-the-starlink-1-mission/

Falcon 9 launch timeline for the Starlink 1 mission
May 15, 2019 | Stephen Clark

Follow the key events of the Falcon 9 rocket's ascent to orbit 60 satellites for SpaceX's Starlink broadband network.

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) rocket will lift off Wednesday during a 90-minute opening at 10:30 p.m. EDT (0230 GMT Thursday) from the Complex 40 launch pad at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

The Falcon 9 will head northeast from Cape Canaveral over the Atlantic Ocean to place the 60 Starlink satellites into a circular orbit around 273 miles (440 kilometers) above Earth.

The Falcon 9's first stage will target a landing on SpaceX's drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" in the Atlantic Ocean nearly 400 miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.

The first stage booster launching tonight previous flew on two missions — the Telstar 18 VANTAGE launch from Florida in September 2018 and SpaceX's eighth mission for Iridium from California in January.

Data source: SpaceX

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T-0:00:00: Liftoff


After the rocket's nine Merlin engines pass an automated health check, hold-down clamps will release the Falcon 9 booster for liftoff from pad 40.

T+0:01:13: Max Q


The Falcon 9 rocket reaches Max Q, the point of maximum aerodynamic pressure, a few seconds after surpassing the speed of sound.

T+0:02:31: MECO


The Falcon 9's nine Merlin 1D engines shut down.

T+0:02:34: Stage 1 Separation


The Falcon 9's first stage separates from the second stage moments after MECO.

T+0:02:41: Stage 2 Ignition


The second stage Merlin 1D vacuum engine ignites for an approximately 6-minute burn to inject the Starlink satellites into a parking orbit.

T+0:03:33: Fairing Jettison


The 5.2-meter (17.1-foot) diameter payload fairing jettisons once the Falcon 9 rocket ascends through the dense lower atmosphere. The 43-foot-tall fairing is made of two clamshell-like halves composed of carbon fiber with an aluminum honeycomb core.

T+0:06:43: Stage 1 Entry Burn Complete


A subset of the first stage's Merlin 1D engines completes an entry burn to slow down for landing. A final landing burn will occur just before touchdown on SpaceX's drone ship "Of Course I Still Love You" around 385 miles (620 kilometers) northeast of Cape Canaveral.

T+0:08:17: Stage 1 Landing


The Falcon 9 rocket's first stage booster touches down on SpaceX's drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

T+0:08:46: SECO 1


The Merlin 1D vacuum engine turns off after placing the Starlink satellites in a temporary parking orbit, beginning a 37-minute coast in space.

T+0:46:11: Stage 2 Restart


The Falcon 9's second stage engine ignites again for a 3-second burn to circularize its orbit.

T+0:46:14: SECO 2


The Merlin 1D vacuum engine shuts down after reaching a target orbit about 273 miles (440 kilometers) high with an inclination of approximately 53 degrees.

T+1:02:14: Begin Starlink Deployments


The 60 flat-panel Starlink satellites, each with a mass of about 500 pounds (227 kilograms) begin deploying from the Falcon 9 rocket's second stage.

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SpaceXFleet Updates‏ @SpaceXFleet 14 мин. назад

GO Searcher and GO Navigator are in position at the fairing recovery LZ. They are ~116km downrange from OCISLY or ~737km from the launchpad. OCISLY position is marked by the star (approx).

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https://spaceflightnow.com/2019/05/15/spacex-releases-new-details-on-starlink-satellite-design/

SpaceX releases new details on Starlink satellite design
May 15, 2019 | Stephen Clark


The mission patch for SpaceX's first dedicated launch for the Starlink network. Credit: SpaceX

The 60 satellites SpaceX is set to launch Wednesday night, beginning the build-out of a broadband network of orbiting spacecraft that could eventually number thousands, are based on a new flat-panel design, with krypton-fueled plasma thrusters, high-power antennas, and a hazard avoidance camera SpaceX says can warn of potential collisions with other objects in space.

Each of the Starlink satellites weighs around 500 pounds (227 kilograms), according to SpaceX. Stacked together inside the payload shroud of a Falcon 9 rocket, the 60 satellites weigh 15 tons (13,620 kilograms), making the cargo on Wednesday night's launch the heaviest ever lofted into orbit by SpaceX.

The new mass record bests the weight of SpaceX's fully-fueled Crew Dragon spacecraft, which launched March 2 on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station.

In a press kit released early Wednesday, SpaceX disclosed new information about the Starlink satellites' design and functionality. Each Starlink spacecraft has a flat-panel design with multiple high-throughput antennas and a single solar array, according to information released in the press kit.

The Starlink satellites carry Hall thrusters, which use electricity and krypton gas to generate an impulse, to maneuver in orbit, maintain altitude and guide the spacecraft back into the atmosphere at the end of their mission.

Hall thrusters provide a more fuel-efficient form of propulsion than conventional liquid propellants, but most satellites that use Hall thrusters consume xenon gas. Krypton is less expensive than xenon, but offers less thrust efficiency, according to a 2011 paper presented by U.S. Air Force and satellite industry engineers.

The satellites also host optical trackers to detect space debris, allowing the craft to autonomously avoid collisions with other objects in space.

Proposals by SpaceX and other would-be commercial broadband providers to launch thousands of new satellites into orbit have raised questions about traffic management. SpaceX originally intended to launch the first batch of Starlink satellites to a higher 741-mile-high (1,150-kilometer) orbit, but the company requested authority fr om the Federal Communications Commission last year to begin operating the network at a lower altitude.

The FCC approved the request last month.

SpaceX officials said the lower operating altitude for the first Starlink satellites will help assuage space debris concerns. If a Starlink relay station in the lower orbit fails, atmospheric drag will bring the satellite back to Earth within about five years.

"Additionally, 95 percent of all components of this design will quickly burn in Earth's atmosphere at the end of each satellite's life cycle — exceeding all current safety standards — with future iterative designs moving to complete disintegration," SpaceX said in the press kit published early Wednesday.

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The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket is set for liftoff from Cape Canaveral's Complex 40 launch pad during a 90-minute window that opens at 10:30 p.m. EDT Wednesday (0230 GMT Thursday).

There is an 80 percent chance of good weather for liftoff during Wednesday night's launch window, according to the U.S. Air Force's 45th Weather Squadron. SpaceX plans to recover the Falcon 9's first stage booster, which flew on two previous missions in September 2018 and in January, on the company's drone ship a few hundred miles northeast of Cape Canaveral.

The mission will be SpaceX's sixth launch of the year, and the 71st flight of a Falcon 9 rocket since 2010.

The 60 spacecraft packed on top of the Falcon 9 rocket for launch Wednesday introduce a new satellite design SpaceX intends to mass-produce at a factory in Redmond, Washington, to populate a fleet that could eventually number nearly 12,000 Internet relay nodes in low Earth orbit.

SpaceX has closely held details about the Starlink satellite layout, including basic information such as the number of spacecraft slated to fly on the company's first rocket launch dedicated to the broadband network. Elon Musk, SpaceX's founder and CEO, revealed in a tweet Saturday that 60 satellites will be aboard the Falcon 9 rocket when it takes off from Florida's Space Coast.

Musk also tweeted a picture showing the 60 satellites stacked in launch configuration, ready for encapsulation inside the Falcon 9's payload fairing.


SpaceX is set to launch 60 satellites to begin deployment of the company's Starlink broadband network, which eventually aims to beam Internet signals to consumers around the world. Credit: SpaceX

SpaceX's Starlink fleet is one of several commercial projects in development to beam Internet connectivity around the world. OneWeb launched the first six of its planned 648 satellites in February, with up to 100 more spacecraft scheduled for launch by early 2020.

And Amazon, backed by the fortune of billionaire Jeff Bezos, is looking to join the race to provide broadband services from satellite constellations.

SpaceX's Starlink fleet is reportedly set to cost around $10 billion, with nearly 12,000 Ku-band, Ka-band and V-band satellites positioned in at different altitudes in multiple orbital planes. The first 1,584 Starlink satellites are slated to operate in orbits 341 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth, spread in 24 orbital planes inclined 53 degrees to the equator.

The Falcon 9 rocket launching Wednesday will begin deploying the 60 Starlink satellites around 62 minutes after liftoff. The launcher will target a 273-mile-high (440-kilometer) orbit for the separation sequence, and the satellites will activate their Hall-effect thrusters to raise their altitude to their 341-mile-high operating orbit.

SpaceX launched two Starlink demonstration satellites in February 2018 as piggyback payloads on a Falcon 9 launch from California. The spacecraft launching Wednesday have a different design, and are smaller than the testbeds launched last year.

"SpaceX designed Starlink to connect end users with low-latency, high-bandwidth broadband services by providing continual coverage around the world using a network of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit," SpaceX said in the press kit. "To manufacture and launch a constellation of such scale, SpaceX is using the same rapid iteration in design approach that led to the successes of Falcon 1, Falcon 9, Falcon Heavy, and Dragon.

"As such, Starlink's simplified design is significantly more scalable and capable than its first experimental iteration," SpaceX said.

"This mission will push the operational capabilities of the satellites to the lim it," SpaceX said. "SpaceX expects to encounter issues along the way, but our learnings here are key to developing an affordable and reliable broadband service in the future."

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 2 мин. назад

Greetings fr om SLC-40, wh ere a gorgeous Falcon 9 is on the launchpad ahead of tonight's 22:30 EDT scheduled launch. #SpaceX #Falcon9 #Starlink

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 6 мин. назад

Because I've seen a lot of questions about this, we need to clarify something. The payload fairings on tonight's launch are brand-new. The ones from the Falcon Heavy flight that will be reused on a Starlink flight will be later this year.

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https://www.militarynews.ru/story.asp?rid=1&nid=508318&lang=RU

Американская ракета стартует на орбиту с 60 интернет-спутниками компании SpaceX
16.05.2019 0:17:24

Вашингтон. 16 мая. ИНТЕРФАКС - Ракета-носитель Falcon 9 в четверг должна вывести на орбиту 60 американских мини-спутников, предназначенных для начала создания глобальной сети интернет-покрытия системы Starlink, сообщила компания-разработчик SpaceX.

Старт двухступенчатой ракеты Falcon 9 компании SpaceX планируется осуществить в промежутке времени между 05:30 и 07:00 мск с космодрома NASA на мысе Канаверал в штате Флорида.

Спутники являются первыми из планируемых 12 тыс. космических аппаратов данного типа для создания полномасштабной сети, которая призвана обеспечить глобальное интернет-покрытие. Предполагается, что все они будут выведены на орбиту после 2020 года.

Как сообщил перед запуском владелец компании SpaceX Илон Маск, для обеспечения минимального покрытия потребуется, по меньшей мере, шесть аналогичных запусков с 60 спутниками, которые планируется осуществить до конца текущего года, а для среднего - 12 запусков.

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SpaceX является одной из целого ряда компаний, которая стремится разместить на орбите крупные группировки спутников для обеспечения глобального интернет-покрытия. Среди них, такие как OneWeb, Telesat, LeoSat и Amazon. Как сообщалось, компания OneWeb в феврале текущего года также вывела на орбиту первые шесть спутников своей собственной системы.

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Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 1 мин. назад

Elon: Largest payload mass launched by #SpaceX to date. There is more solar power on this launch than the International Space Station (about 50% more power). #Starlink


54 сек. назад

Total mass is around 18.5 tons.

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Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 5 мин. назад

Elon: Six more launches needed to have a useful communications constellation. Another six more needed on top of that for continuous coverage over most of the world.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 8 мин. назад

60 satellites this mission. That will vary mission to mission. 1 terabyte of information in each launch.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 7 мин. назад

12 Starlink launches to cover US; 24 launches (so that's completing the entire 550 km orbital shell of 1,584 Starlinks) for decent global coverage.

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Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 3 мин. назад

Elon: We see this as a way to generate revenue to develop more advanced rockets and spaceships. Starlink is a key component for establishing a presence on the moon and Mars.
#SpaceX #Starlink

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Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 1 мин. назад

Elon: We are using krytpon because it costs a lot less than xenon. ISP of the Hall thrusters is around 1,500 seconds.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 10 мин. назад

Contact with satellites expected over Tasmania about an 1hr after launch.


10 мин. назад

SpaceX WILL show deployment! #Starlink #SpaceX

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 9 мин. назад

Deployment: Stage 2 will rotate. Each #Starlink will deploy "like spreading a deck of cards on the table." They might actually contact each other during deployment, but they're built to withstand that!


Stephen Clark‏ @StephenClark1 7 мин. назад

Musk: Starlink satellites will deploy from the Falcon 9 upper stage using rotational inertia, like spreading a deck of cards on a table. Avoids flying 60 different separation mechanisms.

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Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 11 мин. назад

Should know health status of all 60 3-4hrs after launch.

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Michael Baylor‏ @nextspaceflight 13 мин. назад

Elon: There is not a specific deployment mechanism per satellite. It works by having stage 2 spread them like a deck of cards on the table. May lead to slight contact between satellites, but they are designed to handle it.


Chris G - NSF‏ @ChrisG_NSF 12 мин. назад

Trying 2 different mechanism for solar array deployment.