[LINK] itN: 'Solar winds take out Starlink satellites'

Roger Clarke Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
Thu Feb 10 09:18:38 AEDT 2022


On 10/2/22 9:11 am, Scott Howard wrote:
> They originally had approval to have roughly half their satellites at
> ~550km and the rest at around double that.
> 
> That article is referring to the approval to change those that were
> supposed to be at higher altitudes - none of which had yet been launched
> - back to ~550km like the rest of them. 

So you're saying that the 2,000 are additional since April'21.

That seems like a lot of launches.  I wonder how many devices they can
carry up per launch.

_____________________


> On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 2:04 PM Roger Clarke <Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
> <mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au>> wrote:
> 
>     > On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 1:24 PM Roger Clarke
>     <Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au <mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au>
>     > <mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
>     <mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au>>> wrote:
>     >
>     >     [ Have there been previous launches into the 550km level,
>     which went as
>     >     planned?  Was the prompt loss of 40 of a batch of 49 really a
>     once-off
>     >     bit of bad luck, or an indicator that the environment at that
>     level is
>     >     simply too hostile for spacecraft to hang around? ]
> 
> 
>     On 10/2/22 8:37 am, Scott Howard wrote:
>     > They have just under 2,000 satellites already at/around the 550km
>     level.
> 
> 
>     That was quick.  The FCC 'approval' to start sending things up to that
>     level was only in April 2021.
> 
>     Maybe the report I read wasn't clear enough:
>     https://www.satellitetoday.com/broadband/2021/04/27/fcc-approves-spacex-request-to-lower-starlinks-altitude/
>     > The license modification allows SpaceX to *change the altitude* for
>     2,814 *future* Starlink satellites, from the 1,100-1,300 km range to the
>     540-570 km range
> 
>     So did they reposition most of those 2,000, rather than sending up a lot
>     of payloads to 550m, in the space of only a few months?
> 
>     I couldn't quickly run to ground (so to speak) the planned life of the
>     things.  Maybe it's at least a couple of years.  Which would seem to
>     mean they've got a lot of propellant on board.
> 
> 
>     -- 
>     Roger Clarke                           
>     mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au <mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au>
>     T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com
> 
>     Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
> 
>     Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
>     Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University
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-- 
Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com

Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA

Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University


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