SpaceX successfully launches 60 prototype Starlink satellites
Capitalsm in space: SpaceX this morning successfully launched 60 prototype Starlink satellites as the first part of their planned constellation of thousands of satellites designed to provide worldwide internet access.
The first stage, already used twice before, landing successfully on their drone ship. You can watch the launch here.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
7 China
6 SpaceX
4 Europe (Arianespace)
3 Russia
3 India
The U.S. now leads China 11 to 7 in the national rankiings.
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Capitalsm in space: SpaceX this morning successfully launched 60 prototype Starlink satellites as the first part of their planned constellation of thousands of satellites designed to provide worldwide internet access.
The first stage, already used twice before, landing successfully on their drone ship. You can watch the launch here.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
7 China
6 SpaceX
4 Europe (Arianespace)
3 Russia
3 India
The U.S. now leads China 11 to 7 in the national rankiings.
Readers!
My annual February birthday fund-raising drive for Behind the Black is now over. Thank you to everyone who donated or subscribed. While not a record-setter, the donations were more than sufficient and slightly above average.
As I have said many times before, I can’t express what it means to me to get such support, especially as no one is required to pay anything to read my work. Thank you all again!
For those readers who like my work here at Behind the Black and haven't contributed so far, please consider donating or subscribing. My analysis of space, politics, and culture, taken from the perspective of an historian, is almost always on the money and ahead of the game. For example, in 2020 I correctly predicted that the COVID panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Every one of those 2020 conclusions has turned out right.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
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3. A Paypal Donation or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
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Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above.
Reused first stage. Soon, the Starlink missions will have reused fairings.
Cheapest existing booster to launch the constellation, and they probably get the internal rate, and they are willing to use all the reused components for even bigger cost savings.
Hard to imagine anyone beating their launch costs!
And once Starship is ready to launch them, even better deal.
Here’s amazing video of the train of Starlink satellites viewed from Leiden, the Netherlands
https://vimeo.com/338361997
Steve–
good stuff!
When I saw the array of satellites neatly stacked in the launch configuration, I thought it would be a neat deployment with satellites launched one at a time in all directions. Instead, the upper stage started rotating, and they just floated away as a blob. Interesting that they’re now in a long line.
Another view from the Netherlands, less detailed than Steve’s post: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2XPjOs5qYQ&feature=youtu.be