SpaceX has launched official specs and photographs of its next-generation Starlink V2 Mini satellites, that are set to launch for the primary time as early as Monday, February twenty seventh.
The brand new satellites are the way forward for SpaceX’s Starlink constellation, and the knowledge the corporate revealed helps reveal why.
SpaceX’s confusingly-named Starlink 6-1 mission will carry the primary 21 Starlink V2 satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) as early as 1:38 pm EST (18:38 UTC) on Monday, February twenty seventh. The satellites will function underneath SpaceX’s Starlink Gen2 FCC license, which at the moment permits the corporate to launch as much as 7,500 of a nominal 29,998 satellites. Similtaneously it continues to fill out its smaller 4,408-satellite Starlink Gen1 constellation with smaller V1.5 satellites, SpaceX has already begun launching the identical smaller V1.5 satellites underneath the Gen2 license.
Finally, these smaller and fewer succesful satellites will probably get replaced with bigger V2 satellites, however SpaceX seems to have determined that shortly including suboptimal capability is best than ready for an optimum answer. In principle, that optimum answer is bigger Starlink V2 satellites. As mentioned in a earlier FCC submitting, SpaceX intends to function as much as three several types of Starlink satellites in its Starlink Gen2 constellation. The primary variant is probably going equivalent to the roughly 305-kilogram (~673 lb) Starlink V1.5 satellites that make up most of its Starlink Gen1 constellation.
In the meantime, SpaceX has already constructed and delivered dozens of full-size Starlink V2 satellites to Starbase, Texas. These extra optimum spacecraft reportedly weigh anyplace from 1.25-2 tons (2750-4400 lb) every, provide virtually 10 occasions extra bandwidth than V1.5 satellites, and are so massive and ungainly that they will solely be launched by SpaceX’s next-generation Starship rocket. Starship is considerably delayed, nevertheless, so SpaceX selected to develop a 3rd Starlink satellite tv for pc variant combining lots of the full-size V2 advantages right into a bundle that may be launched by SpaceX’s present Falcon 9 rocket.
Previous to SpaceX’s February twenty sixth tweets, all that was recognized about these Starlink “V2 Mini” satellites have been a number of specs included in a response to the FCC. The brand new data supplied by SpaceX seems to substantiate a few of these specs. For instance, realizing that Falcon 9 will carry 21 V2 Mini satellites and that the rocket’s present payload document is 17.4 tons, every V2 Mini satellite tv for pc probably weighs not more than 830 kilograms (~1830 lb). That’s very near the 800-kilogram estimate supplied within the October 2022 submitting.
Extra importantly, SpaceX revealed that every Starlink V2 Mini satellite tv for pc may have extra highly effective antennas and entry to a brand new set of frequencies. Mixed, every satellite tv for pc may have as much as “~4x extra capability…than earlier iterations” like Starlink V1. In comparison with present V1.5 satellites, that signifies that Starlink V2 Mini may squeeze roughly 50% extra community capability out of every unit of satellite tv for pc mass. Consequently, despite the fact that the bigger V2 Mini design has decreased the variety of satellites Falcon 9 can launch virtually threefold, the 21 V2 Mini satellites it could launch will add ~50% extra bandwidth than the ~57 V1.5 satellites it might have in any other case launched.
The bigger satellites imply that it’s going to take thrice as many Falcon 9 launches to broaden Starlink V2 protection, however the areas which can be coated may have the capability to serve a number of occasions extra prospects or ship a lot increased bandwidth to the identical variety of prospects.
SpaceX additionally introduced that it has developed a brand new argon-fueled Corridor impact thruster for Starlink V2 satellites. To keep away from the excessive prices of xenon propellant, the commonest alternative of gas for electrical propulsion techniques, SpaceX already developed a first-of-its-kind krypton Corridor impact thruster for Starlink V1 and V1.5 satellites. Unfold over the just about 4000 Starlink V1.x satellites SpaceX has launched since Might 2019, the comparatively low price of krypton (roughly $500-1500/kg vs. $3000-10,000+/kg for xenon) has probably saved the corporate a whole bunch of hundreds of thousands of {dollars}.
The shift from krypton to argon could possibly be equally helpful. Relative to krypton, the argon required to gas Starlink V2 satellites shall be virtually free. 99.999%-pure argon could be bought in low volumes for simply $5 to $17 per kilogram, and every Starlink V2 Mini satellite tv for pc will probably want lower than 80 kilograms. SpaceX probably spent round $50 million (+/- $25M) on krypton for the just about 4000 Starlink V1 satellites it’s launched to this point. Consequently, even when each Starlink V2 satellite tv for pc wants an extreme 200 kilograms of argon, fueling its subsequent constellation of virtually 30,000 V2 satellites may price SpaceX much less than fueling 4000 V1 satellites.
Tune in beneath round 1:30 pm EST (18:30 UTC) to look at SpaceX’s first Starlink V2 launch dwell.