Replace Oct. 21, 4:20 p.m.: SpaceX is pushing again its deliberate launch to no sooner than Tuesday, Oct. 22.
SpaceX is about to launch one other batch of 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Area Drive Station to low Earth orbit on Tuesday.
The Falcon 9 rocket launch comes on the heels of per week that noticed the corporate launch a file six missions with 4 Falcon 9 rockets, one Falcon Heavy rocket and a Starship rocket, using all 4 of its launch pads.
Liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission from pad 40 at CCSFS is about for no sooner than 6:14 p.m. EDT (2214 UTC), pending climate. This shall be SpaceX’s 68th devoted Starlink launch of the 12 months.
Spaceflight Now could have stay protection starting about an hour previous to liftoff.
Coming into the Monday launch alternative, the forty fifth Climate Squadron forecast 70 % probability of favorable climate throughout that window. Meteorologists mentioned they’re monitoring the impacts of Hurricane Oscar, which can additionally affect the booster restoration zone.
“The breezy, onshore circulation will proceed into the upcoming week as the mix of a powerful
excessive centered to the north and Hurricane Oscar to the southeast improve the stress gradient over the Florida peninsula,” launch climate officers wrote. “These circumstances will persist tomorrow as an space of upper low-level moisture strikes in, enhancing Atlantic bathe exercise alongside the Area Coast.”
Just a little extra then eight minutes after liftoff, the primary stage booster is about to landing on a SpaceX droneship, stationed within the Atlantic Ocean west of the Bahamas. If profitable, this would be the 280th droneship touchdown and 357th total booster touchdown.
Increasing Starlink
The mission is the primary time that SpaceX has launched a batch of its Starlink satellites certain for the sixth shell of its constellation since Could 31 with the Starlink 6-64 mission. Since then, it has been constructing out its eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh shells.
The corporate has been working to get approval from the Federal Communications Fee to deploy and function almost 30,000 Gen2 Starlink satellites.
Again in March, the FCC permitted a request “to conduct communications within the 71.0-76.0 GHz (space-to-Earth) and 81.0-86.0 GHz (Earth-to-space) frequency bands (collectively, E-band), with the 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites that the Fee beforehand approved within the first partial grant of this software.” That authorization caps the quantity Gen2 satellites at that quantity, for now.
“Grant of this portion of SpaceX’s request will serve the general public curiosity by permitting SpaceX to make the most of the total capability of its extra superior Gen2 Starlink satellites, which is able to enhance the broadband service that SpaceX is bringing to U.S. prospects, together with these in unserved and underserved areas of the nation,” the FCC wrote on March 8.
“We proceed to defer consideration of the rest of SpaceX’s request, together with SpaceX’s ongoing use of emergency beacons, which is the topic of a second modification to SpaceX’s software, in addition to the remaining 22,488 satellites SpaceX proposed in its software, as amended.”
On Aug. 16, the FCC’s Satellite tv for pc Applications and Coverage Division permitted a license modification request from SpaceX relating to its Gen1 satellites, of which there are 4,408, based on the FCC.
“Particularly, SpaceX is authorised to change its operations attributable to deliberate modifications in satellite tv for pc {hardware}, together with modification of beam-forming and digital processing gear to allow narrower beam capabilities,” the FCC wrote. “This modification additionally displays updates to SpaceX’s orbital particles mitigation plan attributable to deliberate deployment of bigger satellites.”
Primarily, this approval permits SpaceX to launch Gen2 Starlinks as replacements for the Gen1 variations underneath the Gen1 authorization.
In accordance with astronomer and professional orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell, as of Oct. 20, 2024, there are 6,473 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. Amongst these, 4,150 are Gen1 and a pair of,323 are the Gen2 Mini selection.
The subsequent era Starlink satellites, that are so large that solely Starship can launch them, will enable for a 10X enhance in bandwidth and, with the lowered altitude, sooner latency https://t.co/HLYdjjia3o
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2024
The total-size Gen2 Starlink satellites shall be launched utilizing SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which simply accomplished its fifth check flight on Oct. 13. The corporate was in a position to catch the primary stage booster, referred to as Tremendous Heavy, utilizing its launch tower for the primary time. SpaceX factors to this functionality as key to with the ability to allow speedy reusability of the rocket sooner or later.
Along with increasing the variety of Starlink satellites that it’s allowed to launch and function, SpaceX additionally needed to change the nominal orbits of a few of its shells, as first reported by Ars Technica. In a submitting to the FCC dated Oct. 11, 2024, Jameson Dempsey, SpaceX Director of Satellite tv for pc Coverage, wrote that SpaceX desires “to decrease the nominal altitudes of its shells at 525 km, 530 km, and 535 km to 480 km, 485 km, and 475 km altitude, respectively.”
“For the lower-altitude shell at 475 km, SpaceX requests authority to scale back the nominal inclination from 33 levels to 32 levels,” Dempsey wrote. “Apart from its shell at 475 km altitude, SpaceX requests to change its authorization to extra flexibly distribute satellites in as much as 56 planes per shell and as much as 120 satellites per airplane.
“Whereas this reconfiguration will end in a better potential most variety of orbital planes and satellites per airplane for all however one shell at 475 km, the whole variety of satellites within the Gen2 system is not going to exceed 29,988 satellites, and the primary tranche of satellites within the Gen2 system will stay 7,500 satellites till such time that the Fee permits deployments past that first tranche.”
Dempsey argues that the requested modifications will enable the Starlink Web constellation to “ship gigabit-speed, actually low-latency broadband and ubiquitous cellular connectivity to all Individuals and the billions of individuals globally who nonetheless lack entry to ample broadband.”
The FCC has but to reply to this newest request.
Particular protection concluding
Whereas there aren’t any Starlink satellites that characteristic the Direct to Cell capabilities on the Starlink 6-61 mission, SpaceX is about to wrap up a novel studying alternative with the know-how.
On Oct. 7, the FCC’s Satellite tv for pc Licensing Division granted SpaceX “particular momentary authority” to function its second-generation Starlink satellites which have the DTC capability for 15 days “with supplemental protection from space-capable Earth stations within the areas of Florida affected by Hurricane Milton.”
It was additionally granted the identical authority on Oct. 4 for the territories impacted by Hurricane Helene.
In the US, SpaceX is partnering with telecommunications firm, T-Cellular, to supply the service, although it has expressed an curiosity in working with different suppliers sooner or later.
SpaceX additionally started testing the performance down in New Zealand with telecommunications firm, One New Zealand.
“After we introduced our collaboration with SpaceX, we have been coping with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, a stark reminder of the need of a resilient again as much as our cellular community, which could be disrupted by climate-related, fibre and energy outages,” mentioned One New Zealand CEO Jason Paris in a press release.
“We’re sadly seeing this play out with Hurricane Milton in Florida proper now, the place Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell functionality are taking part in an important position conserving folks linked as the acute climate has disrupted their floor primarily based cellular networks. That’s why beginning testing right here is a big step ahead on our mission to convey protection like by no means earlier than to New Zealand.”
Starlink d2c now starting testing in New Zealand with @onenzofficial! https://t.co/c810mpihRz
— Michael Nicolls (@michaelnicollsx) October 21, 2024
