Starlink is SpaceX's 12000-satellite low earth orbit constellation to provide broadband Internet access.
The mass-produced spacecraft carry a communications payload using the Ku and Ka frequency bands. The satellites will employ optical inter-satellite links and phased array beam forming and digital processing technologies.
The Starlink satellites feature a flat panel design with a single solar panel and have a mass of about 260 kg. The satellites are stacked for launch without the need for an dispenser. As a propulsion system for orbit adjustion and maintenance as well as deorbiting, they use krypton-fueled Hall thrusters. The Startracker navigation system is based on the heritage of Dragon. The satellites are designed autonomously avoid collisions based on uplinked tracking data. At the end of life, the Starlink satellites are to be actively deorbited, leading to reentry. 95% of the material is expected to burn up.
The first 1584 Starlink satellites are to operate from a 550 km orbit. Later sub-constellations are planned for 1200 km and very low 340 km orbital altitude, bringing the final constellation size to nearly 12000 satellites.
The initial 60 satellites, called Block v0.9, are prototypes lacking the Ka-band payloads and inter-satellite links.
For launch, 60 satellites are stacked on top of each other without the need of a massive deployer. 60 satellite is the maximum possible to fit inside the Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5), although a future enlarged fairing will allow launches of more than 60 satellites per mission. Later satellites are also to be launched by the Super Heavy Starship reusable launch vehicle.
The first prototype launch took place in May 2019 on a Falcon-9 v1.2 (Block 5) booster, carrying 60 Starlink Block v0.9 prototype satellites for testing.
The first batch of 60 fully operational Starlink Block v1.0 satellites took place in November 2019 and 24 launches are planned for 2020. SpaceX also plans to sell some of the satellites for military, scientific, or exploratory purposes.
Concerns have been raised about the long-term danger of space debris resulting from placing thousands of satellites in orbits above 600 km (370 mi) and a possible impact on astronomy, although the Starlink satellites orbit at 550 kilometres (340 mi)[12] and SpaceX is reportedly attempting to solve the latter issue. On Starlink 2, one of the satellites has an experimental coating to make it less reflective, and thus impact ground-based astronomical observations less.
The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build, and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in May 2018 to be about US$10 billion. Product development began in 2015, with the first two prototype test-flight satellites launched in February 2018. A second set of test satellites and the first large deployment of a piece of the constellation occurred on May 24, 2019 UTC when the first 60 operational satellites were launched. The SpaceX satellite development facility in Redmond, Washington, houses the Starlink research, development, manufacturing, and on-orbit control operations.
As of April 22, 2020, SpaceX is targeting a private beta service in the Northern U.S. and Canada by August 2020 with a public beta following in November 2020. SpaceX is launching 60 satellites at a time, aiming to deploy 1,584 of the 260-kilogram (570 lb) spacecraft to provide near-global service by late 2021 or 2022. However, these are only internal projections and not set dates.
Facts in Brief
Launch Vehicle: Falcon 9 Full Thrust
Launch Site: Cape Canaveral, United States
Mass: 260 kg