Starlink General Discussion and Deployment Thread #1
Starlink General Discussion and Deployment Thread #1
This thread will now be used as a campaign thread for Starlink launches. You can find the most important details about a upcoming launch in the section below.
This thread can be used for everything smaller Starlink related for example: a new ground station, photos , questions, smaller fcc applications...
Next Launch (Starlink V1.0-L14)
| Liftoff currently scheduled for | 21st October 12:36 EDT (16:36 UTC) |
|---|---|
| Backup date | 22nd time gets earlier ~20-26 minuts every day |
| Static fire | Possible |
| Payload | 60 Starlink version 1 satellites |
| Payload mass | ~15,600 kg (Starlink ~260 kg each) |
| Deployment orbit | Low Earth Orbit, ~ 261 x 278 km 53° (?) |
| Vehicle | Falcon 9 v1.2 Block 5 |
| Core | B1060.3 |
| Past flights of this core | 2 |
| Past flights of this fairing | ? |
| Fairing catch attempt | Likely |
| Launch site | SLC-40, CCAFS Florida |
| Landing | Droneship : ~ (632 km downrange) |
Launch Updates
| Time | Update |
|---|---|
| 18th October | Starlink V1.0-L13 successful launched |
| 14th October | Starlink V1.0-L13 targeting 18th October from 39A |
| 6th October 14:31 UTC | Starlink V1.0-L12 successful launched |
| 5th October 11:25 UTC | Standing down for weather |
| 1st October 13:24 UTC | Standing down due to an out of family ground system sensor reading |
| 17th September 17:40 UTC | Scrubbed for recovery issue |
| 16th September 13:00 UTC | L-1 Weather Forecast: 60% GO (40% GO backup day) |
| ^ Starlink V1.0-L12 ^ | |
| 18th August 14:31 UTC | Starlink V1.0-L10 successful launched |
| 16th August 13:00 UTC | L-2 Weather Forecast: 70% GO (80% GO backup day) |
| 15th August 13:00 UTC | L-3 Weather Forecast: 70% GO (80% GO backup day) |
| 14th August 19:00 UTC | OCISLY left Port Canaveral |
General Starlink Informations
Previous and Pending Starlink Missions
| | Mission | Date (UTC) | Core | Pad | Deployment Orbit | Notes [Sat Update Bot] | | --- | --- | :---: | :---: | :---: | :---: | --- | :---: | | 1 | Starlink v0.9 | 2019-05-24 | 1049.3 | SLC-40 | 440km 53° | 60 test satellites with Ku band antennas | Feb 22 | | 2 | Starlink-1 | 2019-11-11 | 1048.4 | SLC-40 | 280km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites, v1.0 includes Ka band antennas | Feb 22 | | 3 | Starlink-2 | 2020-01-07 | 1049.4 | SLC-40 | 290km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites, 1 sat with experimental antireflective coating | Feb 22 | | 4 | Starlink-3 | 2020-01-29 | 1051.3 | SLC-40 | 290km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites | Feb 22 | | 5 | Starlink-4 | 2020-02-17 | 1056.4 | SLC-40 | 212km x 386km 53° | 60 version 1, Change to elliptical deployment, Failed booster landing | Feb 22 | | 6 | Starlink-5 | 2020-03-18 | 1048.5 | LC-39A |~ 210km x 390km 53°| 60 version 1, S1 early engine shutdown, booster lost post separation | - | | 7 | Starlink-6 | 2020-04-22 | 1051.4 | LC-39A | ~ 210km x 390km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites | - | | 8 | Starlink-7 | 2020-06-04 | 1049.5 | SLC-40 |~ 210km x 390km 53°|60 version 1 satellites, 1 sat with experimental sun-visor | - | | 9 | Starlink-8 | 2020-06-13| 1059.3 | SLC-40 | ~ 210km x 390km 53°| 58 version 1 satellites with Skysat 16, 17, 18| - | | 10 | Starlink-9 | 2020-08-07 | 1051.5 | LC-39A | 403km x 386km 53°| 57 version 1 satellites with BlackSky 7 & 8, all with sun-visor | - | | 11 | Starlink-10 | 2020-08-18 | 1049.6 | SLC-40 | ~ 210km x 390km 53° | 58 version 1 satellites with SkySat 19, 20, 21 | - | | 12 | Starlink-11 |2020-09-03 | 1060.2| LC-39A | ~ 210km x 360km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites | - | | 13 | Starlink-12 |2020-10-06 | 1058.3| LC-39A | ~ 261 x 278 km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites | - | | 14 | Starlink-13 | 2020-10-18 | 1051.6| LC-39A | ~ 261 x 278 km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites| - | | 15 | Starlink-14 | Upcoming Mission | 1060.3| SLC-40| ~ 261 x 278 km 53° | 60 version 1 satellites expected | - |
^(Daily Starlink altitude updates on Twitter ) ^@StarlinkUpdates ^(available a few days following deployment.)
Starlink Versions
Starlink V0.9
The first batch of starlink sats launched in the new starlink formfactor. Each sat had a launch mass of 227kg. They have only a Ku-band antenna installed on the sat. Many of them are now being actively deorbited
Starlink V1.0
The upgraded productional batch of starlink sats ,everyone launched since Nov 2019 belongs to this version. Upgrades include a Ka-band antenna. The launch mass increased to ~260kg.
Starlink DarkSat
Darksat is a prototype with a darker coating on the bottom to reduce reflectivity, launched on Starlink V1.0-L2. Due to reflection in the IR spectrum and stronger heating, this approach was no longer pursued
Starlink VisorSat
VisorSat is SpaceX's currently approach to solve the reflection issue when the sats have reached their operational orbit. The first prototype was launched on Starlink V1.0-L7 in June. Starlink V1.0-L9 will be the first launch with every sat being an upgraded VisorSat
Deployment Status (2020-10-15)
(based on visualisations by @StarlinkUpdates)
| Mission | Launch | Plane 1 | Plane 2 | Plane 3 | Launched | In-Orbit | Deorbited |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starlink-1 | 2019-11-11 | 2019-12-28 | 2020-02-06 | 2020-03-18 | 60 | 59 | 1 |
| Starlink-2 | 2020-01-07 | 2020-02-20 | 2020-04-01 | 2020-05-18 | 60 | 58 | 2 |
| Starlink-3 | 2020-01-29 | 2020-03-14 | 2020-04-25 | 2020-06-12 | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Starlink-4 | 2020-02-17 | 2020-04-01 | 2020-05-14 | 2020-06-29 | 60 | 59 | 1 |
| Starlink-5 | 2020-03-18 | 2020-05-03 | 2020-06-16 | 2020-07-11 | 60 | 59 | 1 |
| Starlink-6 | 2020-04-22 | 2020-06-10 | 2020-07-24 | 2020-08-21 | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Starlink-7 | 2020-06-04 | 2020-07-22 | 2020-08-14 | 2020-09-27 | 60 | 59 | 1 |
| Starlink-8 | 2020-06-13 | 2020-07-28 | 2020-09-16 | Raising orbit | 58 | 58 | 0 |
| Starlink-9 | 2020-08-07 | 2020-08-28 | 2020-09-25 | Planeshift | 57 | 57 | 0 |
| Starlink-10 | 2020-08-18 | 2020-10-05 | Planeshift | Planeshift | 58 | 58 | 0 |
| Starlink-11 | 2020-09-03 | Raising orbit | Planeshift | Planeshift | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Starlink-12 | 2020-10-06 | Raising to parking orbit | Raising to parking orbit | Raising to parking orbit | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Starlink-13 | 2020-10-18 | Checkouts | Checkouts | Checkouts | 60 | 60 | 0 |
| Sum | 773 | 767 | 6 |
Date (Deployed) = Sats in operational orbit (550km)
Raising orbit = Sats left in the parking orbit and are raising their altitude to the operational orbit
Planeshift = Sats waiting in the parking orbit until they can deploy to their targeted plane
Links & Resources
- Regulatory Resources:
- FCC Experimental STAs - r/SpaceX wiki
- General Starlink FCC filing discussion - NASASpaceflight Forums
- Starlink Tracking/Viewing Resources:
- Celestrak.com - u/TJKoury
- Flight Club Pass Planner - u/theVehicleDestroyer
- Heavens Above
- n2yo.com
- findstarlink - Pass Predictor and sat tracking - u/cmdr2
- SatFlare
- See A Satellite Tonight - Starlink - u/modeless
- Starlink Constellation Animations - u/langgesagt
- Starlink orbit raising daily updates - u/hitura-nobad
- Supplemental TLE - Celestrak
We will attempt to keep the above text regularly updated with resources and new mission information, but for the most part, updates will appear in the comments first. Feel free to ping us if additions or corrections are needed. Approximately 48 hours before liftoff of a Starlink, a launch thread will go live and the party will begin there.
This is not a party-thread Normal subreddit rules still apply.
Posted Aug 8, 2020, 5:45 PM UTC · edited