SpaceX is offering to use its Starship spacecraft to rapidly deploy its second-generation Starlink constellation. This approach could provide denser rural coverage while limiting the number of satellites in orbit.
SpaceX officially plans to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites into low orbit (LEO). However, we do know that the company plans to offer 30,000 more satellites in the coming years, as evidenced by license applications filed with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2019.
If such a project succeeds, it would bring the number of Starlink satellites to 42,000. Since then, the situation has evolved with the development of the Starship. Intended to drop cargo and astronauts on the Moon and then on Mars, the ship could also allow SpaceX to release its own satellites more efficiently, according to SpaceNews.
Specifically, SpaceX is offering to use its ship to rapidly deploy its second-generation constellation. This approach could provide denser rural coverage while limiting the number of satellites in orbit. The Starship-compatible Starlink configuration would include 29,988 satellites at altitudes between 340 and 614 kilometers in nine inclined orbits.
In this way, SpaceX could provide "denser polar coverage to rural subscribers “, as well as “National Security and First Responder Customers to make "network performance more consistent “.
A second revised configuration by SpaceX, filed on August 18 with the Federal Communications Commission, plans to continue to rely on Falcon 9 rockets, distributing 29 996 satellites on twelve orbital inclinations at altitudes between 328 and 614 kilometers altitude. So, again, using the Falcon 9 would not involve a larger constellation, as the company originally intended.
While two configurations are offered here, SpaceX has said it prefers the one involving the Starship. This spacecraft would allow satellites to enter service “weeks after launch, rather than months “.
The increasingly crowded space environment is a real concern for astronomers and regulators around the world, as a growing number of constellations plan to deploy thousands additional satellites in the years to come. With its Starlink project, SpaceX concentrates a large part of these concerns. On this point, Elon Musk nevertheless wants to be reassuring.
Gen2 satellites will actually be "a little bigger and generate more power than originally expected “, he agreed. However, as with the more than 1,600 Starlink satellites currently in orbit by the company, those of the second generation will rely on collision avoidance software and on-board propulsion to mitigate threats .
In addition, at lower altitudes than the first generation Starlink constellation satellites, the second generation satellites will be less illuminated by the Sun. They will therefore cause less reflection problems for astronomical observations.
