SpaceX successfully launches the first 60 satellites of the large Starlink Internet constellation

Updated May 23, 23:35 ET: SpaceX has successfully deployed the 60 Starlink satellites into orbit after take-off and the individual vehicles deploy into orbit over time. The company also landed after the launch of its Falcon 9 rocket, marking the third time this rocket went into space.

Update of May 123, 00:57 ET: All 60 Starlink satellites are now online. The deployment of solar panels should take place soon.

Original story: Tonight, SpaceX will attempt to relaunch its ambitious Internet initiative called Starlink, launching the first 60 satellites to produce nearly 12,000 spacecraft in low orbit over the Earth. These inaugural sensors do not have all the features that finalized satellites are supposed to have, but their launch will set the tone for Starlink – and should help SpaceX know what it takes to run a large series of vehicles in space .

"This is one of the toughest engineering projects I have ever seen, and it has been very well executed," SpaceX President Elon Musk told a conference call.

Starlink is one of SpaceX's most exciting projects. SpaceX plans to put into orbit two groups of satellites: a batch of 4,409 satellites that will operate between 550 km (340 miles) and 1,325 km (823 miles). And then there's a second batch of 7,518 satellites flying slightly lower, between 208 miles (335 kilometers) and 214 miles (346 kilometers) of altitude. A total of 11,927 satellites are zooming on the Earth, providing Internet connectivity to one million user terminals on the surface.

Ultimately, the goal is to provide global Internet coverage from space, with very short latency, which current satellites can not accomplish. Most satellites that provide Internet coverage from space are in much higher orbits, called geostationary orbits – a path about 22,000 miles above the equator. The problem with these satellites, however, is that getting their data takes a lot of time because the signals have to travel thousands of kilometers in space and back. This is why SpaceX and other aerospace companies are proposing constellations in much lower orbits to reduce this latency problem.

Image: SpaceX

As you move to lower orbits, you need many more satellites to completely cover the Earth. That is why SpaceX and others are proposing new constellations numbered by the hundreds and the thousands. At present, there are nearly 2,000 operational satellites in orbit, but satellite Internet initiatives like those of SpaceX, OneWeb and others could quadruple that number. This has led many aerospace experts to wonder how this could clutter the space around the Earth and to worry about the potential for in-flight collisions and space debris. To reduce the risk of debris formation, SpaceX has proposed moving some of its satellites into low orbits. He also plans to throw them over the water, where they will burn up almost completely in the atmosphere and will not pose a threat to the people or property below.

Musk says however that the risks of collision in space will be low. "Space junk food – we do not want to trivialize it or take it seriously, because we take it seriously, but it's not crowded there," says Musk. "It is extremely rare."

If the risks of debris are taken into account, the benefits of these constellations could be immense, especially in rural and remote areas. "It would provide connectivity for people who do not have connectivity today or who are extremely expensive and unreliable," said Musk. He also said that this system "would provide a competitive option" to people living in more developed areas who might want another option for their Internet provider.

The Federal Communications Commission has already authorized SpaceX to launch the entire constellation of nearly 12,000 satellites. SpaceX launched its first two test satellites, TinTin A and TinTin B, in February 2018, and the company now has about six years to launch half of the full constellation to fully license the FCC.

The launch tonight will allow SpaceX to meet its deadline, although the satellites participating in this mission do not have all the features of the finalized probes. They have radio antennas to communicate with the Earth, propellers capable of propelling them into space, as well as star followers that will help in orientation and navigation. SpaceX says satellites can even autonomously track other orbiting debris using Air Force tracking data and avoid hitting objects. But these first satellites do not have the means to communicate with each other, which will be necessary in the future. Since the satellites will zoom into the Earth, they will have to compromise on the coverage each time they move to a new area of ​​the surface, which will require satellite-to-satellite communication.

However, Musk said that these early satellites can work around this problem by sending back signals from gateways to the ground, which can then transmit signals to another satellite. "In this way, we can get connectivity without using inter-satellite links," says Musk. "The system can still have global connectivity," except perhaps in some places where you would need a gateway to send signals back over the ocean. Musk says this solution will only be needed for the first batch of production satellites. "It's the first version," says Musk. "Upon arriving at versions two and three, we plan to add internal laser satellite links."

Over the weekend, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX, presented an image of the 60 satellites stacked on top of each other inside the nose of the Falcon 9 rocket that will take them to orbit. It is a tight fit inside the vehicle and each satellite weighs about 500 pounds, making it the heaviest payload ever achieved by SpaceX, with a weight of 18.5 tons.

SpaceX plans to continue to launch lots of 60 lots in the coming years, with the goal of launching between 1,000 and 2,000 satellites a year, according to Musk. Musk says the company can get full coverage after about 24 launches, but will continue to add satellites as more and more customers opt for the system. "We do not need nearly 10,000 satellites to be effective," he says.

The plan also focuses on the deployment of SpaceX ground stations and user terminals receiving satellite signals. Musk described the individual user terminals as pizza-shaped antennas that point to the sky and find the closest satellite to connect to. "You will not even notice the fact that there is switching between satellites," says Musk. "There is a lot of advanced technology here, up to the chip level."

And if all goes well, Musk is planning to give SpaceX a large slice of money, which could be used to finance longer-term projects, such as the development of a new giant rocket called Starship. "The total worldwide Internet connectivity turnover is in the order of $ 1 trillion and we expect to have access to about 3% of that amount, or even 5%," he says.

But first, SpaceX has to start. The Falcon 9, which will put the 60 satellites tonight in orbit, has already been used several times by SpaceX. He flew the Telstar 18 VANTAGE satellite in September 2018, and for the second time in January of this year, taking a group of satellites in orbit for Iridium. Now he will fly tonight from Cape Canaveral Air Base in Florida and after takeoff he will attempt to land on one of the SpaceX drones in the Atlantic Ocean. This means that this vehicle could potentially fly for a fourth time if it succeeds the hit.

The launch was originally scheduled for last week, but was delayed once because of strong winds over the launch site. SpaceX then postponed to this week to check the software on the satellites. Takeoff is now scheduled at 10:30 pm ET and SpaceX has an additional launch window of an hour and a half so that the company can take off until 12:00 pm ET. About an hour after takeoff, SpaceX will deploy the satellites into orbit by rotating the rocket and using the inertia of the satellites to orbit them. SpaceX plans to show the entire mission from start to finish, with live coverage starting approximately 15 minutes before launch. Then come back to watch what should be an interesting satellite deployment.

Update from May 16 at 8:30 pm ET: After delaying the launch on Wednesday, May 15, because of high winds, SpaceX postponed it again on Thursday, May 16 to update the satellite software. "I always want to do everything we can on the ground to maximize the success of the mission," the company tweeted.