Elon Musks Presents 60 SpaceX Internet Broadcast Satellites Gathered for Launch

On Saturday, SpaceX President Elon Musk revealed the 60 satellites his company will launch this week – the first batch of thousands of satellites that SpaceX expects to deploy in the coming years to provide global Internet coverage from the world over. ;space. Musk tweeted an image of tight satellites against each other inside the nose of the Falcon 9 rocket that will lead the spacecraft into orbit.

Satellites are the first operational units of SpaceX's Starlink initiative, a planned mega-constellation of nearly 12,000 spacecraft that will land in a low orbit above the Earth and link Internet connectivity to the surface. The Federal Communications Commission authorized SpaceX to launch two satellite groups for the Starlink project: a constellation of 4,409 satellites, followed by a second constellation of 7,518 satellites, operating at a slightly lower altitude than the first one. Together, the satellites are designed to fly over the Earth synchronously, providing Internet access to all regions of the planet.

SpaceX's FCC approvals depend on the company's ability to launch half of all these satellites over the next six years. Until now, SpaceX has only launched two Starlink test satellites, dubbed TinTin A and TinTin B, which flew to space in February 2018. The duo seemed to perform well, according to investors from Musk and SpaceX, although the company eventually kept the satellite in orbit lower than originally planned. As a result, SpaceX asked the FCC to pilot some of its lower-orbit satellites, based on what the company had learned from these test satellites.

The company is now preparing to seriously launch the Starlink project. This first group of 60 includes "production design" spacecraft that are different from TinTin satellites, according to Musk. However, last week at a satellite conference, SpaceX's president and chief operating officer, Gwynne Shotwell, pointed out that these satellites still did not have some design features necessary to the final constellation, according to a report in News from the space. Satellites will have antennas to communicate with the Earth and the ability to maneuver in space, but they will not be able to communicate with each other in orbit, she said.

Shotwell has finally called this batch of "demonstration" satellites, which will determine how the company plans to deploy these vehicles into orbit. On Twitter, Musk noted that the satellites are flat-packed in the nose, or payload fairing, and that there is no distributor to deploy them into orbit. More details on the mission will be provided on the launch day, he said. The flight is currently scheduled for May 15 in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Musc also noted that "many things will probably go wrong" during this first flight. He argued that at least six more launches of 60 satellites will be needed to provide "minor" internet coverage, while 12 launches will be needed for "moderate" coverage. Shotwell said SpaceX could launch two to six more Starlink missions this year, depending on the first flight, according to News from the space. One Twitter user quickly pointed out that seven launches would be equivalent to 420 satellites, a number Musk appreciates. But on the basis of recent events, the CEO admitted that it was perhaps no longer his lucky number.

SpaceX is one of many companies interested in launching large satellite constellations in space to provide global Internet coverage. Companies such as OneWeb, Telesat, LeoSat and now Amazon are also working on massive constellations offering Internet connectivity from low orbits on the Earth. OneWeb launched its first six satellites in February of this year. But now, SpaceX is poised to take a significant lead in the race to provide the Internet from space, although it appears that more hardware upgrades are still needed for future missions.