Tag: Starlink

SpaceX completes two launches tonight from opposite coasts

10:09 pm

SpaceX tonight successfully completed two launches. First it placed 20 Starlink satellites into orbit (including 13 configured for direct-to-cell capabilities), its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage completed its sixteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

Next SpaceX successfully launched four satellites for the smallsat startup Astranis, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its seventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic, while the two fairing halves completed their 12th and 22nd flights.

Astranis had previously launched one demonstration satellite, proving that its smallsat design could do the work in geosynchronous orbit traditionally done by much larger and more expensive satellites. The four satellites on this launch are its first attempt to provide commercial service. If successful it places this American company in a good position to grab the market share from the older geosynchronous companies like Intelsat, SES, and Eutelsat.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

136 SpaceX
65 China
17 Russia
14 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 156 to 97, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 136 to 117.

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SpaceX launches 21 Starlink satellites

10:44 pm

SpaceX tonight successfully launched 21 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Kennedy in Florida. Thirteen of the satellites were configured for direct-to-cell capabilities.

The first stage completed its fourteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

134 SpaceX
64 China
16 Russia
14 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 154 to 96, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 134 to 116.

Tonight’s launch was also the 250th worldwide in 2024, a record that approximately triples the average number of successful launches each year from 1957 to 2017, when SpaceX and China began to ramp up their launch counts.

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Starlink revenue in 2025 now projected to be $11.8 billion

9:38 am

Capitalism in space: According to one industry market research firm, SpaceX is expected to earn $11.8 billion in revenue in 2025 from its Starlink satellite constellation, a gigantic increase from its estimate for 2024.

SpaceX’s satellite internet service Starlink is projected to reach $11.8 billion in revenue next year, driven by strong consumer demand and growing U.S. military contracts, according to a new market analysis. The forecast, released by the market research firm Quilty Space, represents a substantial increase from the estimated $7.7 billion in revenue for 2024, highlighting Starlink’s rapid growth trajectory in the satellite communications market.

The rise in revenue has been fueled by two factors, the growth in consumer subscribers to the system, and the addition of Space Force contracts that use SpaceX Starshield version of its Starlink satellites.

These numbers are quite spectacular. In the past seven years SpaceX had raised about $12 billion in private investment capital to build both its Starlink constellation and its Starship/Superheavy rocket. Starlink now produces that amount of money for the company each year.

In other words, SpaceX no longer needs NASA as a customer. It has the resources to complete development of Starship, in all its iterations, without any government help. If it wishes to funnel some of this income back into Starship and Superheavy to launch its own missions to Mars, it can.

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T-Mobile initiates direct-cell-to-satellite texting using Starlink

8:50 am

As expected after the most recent Starlink launch, T-Mobile has now begun offering its customers beta registration for using Starlink satellites for texting in areas where no cell towers exist.

The free beta program is available to all T-Mobile customers with compatible devices and postpaid voice plans, the telco announced Dec. 16, although first responders will receive priority access due to limited initial capacity. The company declined to detail capacity and device restrictions but said the beta program would gradually expand to more devices via software updates. “Spots are limited but the service will be available in most areas and most of the time,” a T-Mobile spokesperson said.

The goal right now is to test the system and get user feedback.

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SpaceX launches more Starlink satellites

9:39 pm

SpaceX today successfully launched 22 Starlink satellites, 13 of which were for its direct-to-cell constellation. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Vandenberg in California, its first stage completing its ninth flight by landing successfully on a drone ship in the Pacific.

According to a tweet by SpaceX at the end of October, only five more launches were necessary to complete the first version of its direct-to-cell Starlink constellation. Today’s launch meets that criteria. Since the FCC has approved the constellation’s license, this means T-Mobile can start offering the service to customers, filling in all dead spots worldwide.

What makes this launch even more unique is that for the first time in quite awhile there was a four-day-plus gap between SpaceX launches. The company has been launching so often that it has been rare for more than two days to pass this year without a launch.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

129 SpaceX
60 China
16 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 148 to 92, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 129 to 111.

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SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites

10:34 pm

SpaceX just after midnight (Eastern) tonight successfully launched another 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The first stage completed its second flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

128 SpaceX
59 China
16 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 147 to 91, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 128 to 110.

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Two more launches completed today

9:40 pm

Since the first two launches earlier today, we have seen two more launches successfully completed.

First Russia placed a classified military payload into orbit, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from its Plesetsk spaceport in northeast Russia. The fairings and first three stages all crashed inside Russia. No word if they landed near habitable areas, though the regions are generally sparsely inhabited.

Then SpaceX completed its second launch today, placing another 20 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. Of the satellites thirteen were configured for direct-to-cell service. For the second time in the last week the company broadcast did not begin until after liftoff. In both cases the reason might be to avoid revealing any visuals of the rocket’s fairing, suggesting that SpaceX was using something different that it wanted to keep secret.

The first stage completed its twelfth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

Not surprisingly, two of the launches previously scheduled for today have been postponed. The PSLV launch of a European solar telescope was delayed one day due to an issue detected with the payload’s propulsion system, while the first launch in two years of Arianespace’s Vega-C rocket was delayed because of an unspecified “mechanical issue.” At present Arianespace is targeting a launch for tomorrow.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

126 SpaceX
58 China
16 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 145 to 87, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 126 to 106.

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Two launches completed of the seven launches expected in the next 24 hours

9:04 am

Today will be one of the busiest ever at spaceports worldwide. Already we have had two launches, with five more expected by this time tomorrow.

First, China launched a radar satellite, its Kuaizhou-1A solid-fueled rocket lifting off from the Xichang spaceport in the southwest of China. No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed in China.

Next, SpaceX placed another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida in the early morning hours. The first stage completed a record 24th flight, the most flights of any Falcon 9 booster so far, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.

And we are only getting started today. If all goes right, by this time tomorrow Russia will have done a military launch from its Plesetsk spaceport, Arianespace will have launched a Vega-C from French Guiana, SpaceX will have completed two more Falcon 9 launches from Vandenberg and Kennedy, and India will have launched its PSLV rocket from its Sriharikota spaceport.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

125 SpaceX
58 China
15 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise still leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 144 to 86, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 125 to 105.

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SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites

12:35 am

SpaceX tonight successfully placed another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The first stage completed its sixth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

123 SpaceX
55 China
15 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 142 to 83, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 123 to 102.

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FCC approves use of Starlink for direct cell-to-satellite T-Mobile service

10:02 am

Despite objections from all of SpaceX’s competitors, the FCC has now approved the use of its Starlink constellation for direct cell-to-satellite service as part of T-Mobile’s cellular network.

The decision noted that many technical issues still must be cleared.

There are a few limitations on how this type of service (which the FCC calls “supplemental coverage from space,” or SCS) can work. Right now it officially has to operate as an extension of an existing terrestrial provider, in this case T-Mobile. That’s because the regulations on how you broadcast stuff in space are different from those for how you broadcast stuff to and from a phone (as opposed to a base station antenna). AT&T, for its part, is partnering with AST SpaceMobile.

SpaceX must also be sure that its service does not interfere with other services on the ground, while the ground services do not have to worry about whether they might interfere with the satellite signals.

Nonetheless, this approval likely means that soon users of T-Mobile (as well as AT&T) will no longer have any dead zones. When there are no cell towers available, their phones will simply access the orbiting constellations of either Starlink or AST SpaceMobile.

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Launches galore in the past twelve hours

8:49 am

The past twelve hours was quite busy at spaceports worldwide, with two American companies completing three different launches from three different spaceports, while China added one of its own.

First China launched two radar-mapping satellites, its Long March 2C rocket lifting off from its Jiuquan spaceport in northwest China. No word on where its lower stages, that use very toxic hypergolic fuels, crashed inside China. Though this launch was first, it actually took place in the early morning of November 25th, in China.

Next, Rocket Lab completed two launches, though one was not an orbital flight. First it completed its second of four planned launches of its HASTE suborbital version of its Electron rocket, lifting off from Wallops Island in Virgina. HASTE had been quickly improvised by the company when it realized there was a real market for hypersonic suborbital testing, and Electron could be refitted for that purpose. This launch actually occurred prior to the Chinese launch.

Then Rocket Lab launched five more satellites for the satellite company Kineis, the third of five, its Electron rocket lifting off from one of its two launchpads in New Zealand.

Finally, SpaceX in the early morning of November 25th launched 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its thirteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

121 SpaceX
54 China
14 Russia
13 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 140 to 81, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 121 to 100.

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SpaceX launches 20 Starlink satellites

11:54 pm

SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 20 Starlink satellites, 13 of which had direct-to-cell capabilities, the Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. (Note that the live stream starts late, missing the launch itself).

The first stage completed its 15th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

120 SpaceX
53 China
14 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 138 to 80, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 120 to 98.

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Russia and SpaceX complete launches

9:16 am

Both Russia and the American company SpaceX successfully completed launches this morning. First, Russia sent a new Progress freighter on its way to ISS, its Soyuz-2 rocket lifting off from the Baikonur spaceport in Kazakhstan. The cargo ship is planned to dock with ISS in two days.

Next SpaceX put another 24 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its 20th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

119 SpaceX
53 China
14 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 137 to 80, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 119 to 98.

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SpaceX successfully completes two launches today

11:40 am

SpaceX successfully completed two launches today, one from each coast.

First in the early morning the company sent 20 Starlink satellites into orbit, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California. The first stage completed its 20th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. Of the 20 satellites, 13 were configured for direct-to-cell service.

Next, SpaceX launched GSAT-20, a geosynchronous communications satellite for India’s space agency ISRO, which hired SpaceX because the satellite was too heavy for its own rockets. The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Cape Canaveral, with the first stage completing its 19th flight, successfully landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic. Of the two fairings, one completed its fifth flight while the second completed its first flight.

If we include the afternoon launch yesterday by SpaceX from Kennedy, the company did three launches from three locations in less than 24 hours. And it hopes to launch again tomorrow, this time flying Starship/Superheavy on its sixth test orbital flight, launching from the company’s launchpad in Boca Chica. I have embedded the live steam here.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

117 SpaceX
53 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 135 to 79, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 117 to 97.

With these two launches today, the all-time global record for successful orbital launches in a year, set only last year at 213, has been broken, and there are still about five weeks left in 2024.

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China and SpaceX complete morning launches

8:16 am

Both China and SpaceX today successfully completed morning launches.

First China launched an environmental satellite to study “ocean salinity,” its Long March 4B rocket lifting off from its Taiyuan spaceport in northeast China.

No word on where the rocket’s lower stages crashed inside China. All use very toxic hypergolic fuels, which can literally dissolve your skin.

Next SpaceX completed another launch of 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida. The first stage completed its eighteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

114 SpaceX
52 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 132 to 77, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 114 to 95.

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SpaceX launches 20 Starlink satellites

12:41 am

SpaceX tonight successfully launched 20 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.

The satellites included 13 of the Starlink direct-to-cell satellites. The first stage successfully completed its eighth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

113 SpaceX
51 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 131 to 76, while SpaceX by itself leads the entire world, including American companies, 113 to 94.

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SpaceX launches 20 Starlink satellites

11:22 pm

SpaceX tonight launched another 20 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.

Of the 20 satellites, 13 were the direct-to-cellphone version. The first stage completed its eleventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

110 SpaceX
49 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 128 to 75, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 110 to 93.

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SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites

4:27 pm

SpaceX today launched 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.

The first stage completed its third flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

109 SpaceX
49 China
13 Russia
12 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 127 to 75, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 109 to 93.

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Astronomers call for the FCC to halt all launches of satellite constellations

9:50 am

In a letter [pdf] sent to the FCC on October 24, more than one hundred astronomers demanded a complete halt of all launches of low-Earth satellite constellations until a complete environmental review can be done.

The environmental harms of launching and burning up so many satellites aren’t clear. That’s because the federal government hasn’t conducted an environmental review to understand the impacts. What we do know is that more satellites and more launches lead to more damaging gasses and metals in our atmosphere. We shouldn’t rush forward with launching satellites at this scale without making sure the benefits justify the potential consequences of these new mega-constellations being launched, and then re-entering our atmosphere to burn up and or create debris This is a new frontier, and we should save ourselves a lot of trouble by making sure we move forward in a way that doesn’t cause major problems for our future.

Under this premise, Americans would forever be forbidden from doing anything without first having detailed environmental reviews by federal government agencies. Ponder that thought for a bit.

The astronomers’ argument of course is intellectually dishonest and disingenuous, on multiple levels. It is more than evident that these launches and satellites will cause little serious harm to the atmosphere or the environment. What the astronomers really want is to block these constellations so that their ground-based telescopes will be able to continue to see the heavens unhindered.

To hell with everyone else! We need to gaze at the stars and we are more important!

What these Chicken Littles should really do is give up on ground-based astronomy entirely, and start building space-based telescopes of all kinds, and fast. They would not only bypass the satellite constellations, they would get far better data as they would also bypass the atmosphere to get sharp images of everything they look at.

Whether the FCC listens to this absurd demand depends entirely on who wins the election. A Harris administration might easily go along, shutting down not only SpaceX’s Starlink constellation (thus getting political revenge on Elon Musk for daring to campaign against Democrats) but Amazon’s Kuiper constellation as well. Such an action would likely exceed the FCC’s statutory authority, but that won’t matter to these power-hungry thugs.

Trump in turn would almost certainly shut down much of the administrative state’s mission creep into areas of regulation it has no legal business.

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European Commission finally awards contract to build its government Starlink-type constellation

9:38 am

The European Commission yesterday finally awarded a gigantic contract to a consortium of European satellite companises to build its government-conceived and government-designed communications constellation designed to duplicate constellations already in orbit and built by Starlink and OneWeb.

The full constellation, dubbed IRIS2 and first proposed in 2022, is expected to have 290 satellites. The consortium, dubbed SpaceRISE, is led by satellite companies SES, Eutelsat, and Hispasat, and also includes Thales Alenia Space, OHB, Airbus Defence and Space, Telespazio, Deutsche Telekom, Orange, Hisdesat, and Thales SIX.

In other words, practically every major European aerospace company gets a piece of the pie.

According to a 31 October press release, the European Commission aims to have the IRIS2 service up and running by 2030. The project was initially expected to cost approximately €6 billion, of which the European Commission would provide 60%, with the rest being covered by private industry. However, recent reports have indicated that the project’s budget will likely reach as much as €10 billion.

Based on these numbers, it is going to take more than six years to launch, with each satellite costing about 3.5 million euros.

This is a very typical European government project, conceived not to fill a real need but to make sure there is a European version of something for Europe to use. It is also conceived as a way to transfer cash to as many European aerospace contractors as possible. Considering the number of companies involved and the fact that the whole constellation is government designed, expect the budget to well exceed ten billion euros before completion, and take far longer to become operational than presently planned. For example, the project was first proposed more than two years ago and only now has the contract been issued. In that time SpaceX conceived and has practically launched its entire direct-to-cell Starlink constellation of about the same number of satellites.

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SpaceX: Only five more launches needed to complete Starlink direct-to-cell constellation

9:11 am

According to a tweet posted by SpaceX shortly after yesterday’s first launch from Vandenberg, the company needs only five more launches to complete its first constellation of Starlink direct-to-cell satellites.

More information here. At the moment the company has launched 260 of this version of its Starlink satellites. Since each launch places 13 more satellites in orbit, that means the first full iteration of the constellation will contain 325 satellites.

The satellites will allow cell phone users on the ground to use the constellations like a cell tower, thus providing service in areas where ground cell tower service does not exist. At the moment T-Mobile has a deal with SpaceX, so its subscribers will be able to use this service as soon as it is operational.

When when this be achieved? This story once again illustrates the speed in which SpaceX operates. The first launch of direct-to-cell Starlink satellites occurred on January 2, 2024, and in the last ten months the company has completed 23 launches to get the constellation where it is presently. At that pace the entire consellation might be complete before the end of this year.

The competition for this service is certainly fierce. The other satellite company offering this service, AST Mobile, has launched the first five satellites in its constellation, and has deals with AT&T and Verizon. Its design is different, and will only require 110 satellites to complete the constellation. At the moment five are about to become operational. It hopes to start regular launches next year to complete the constellation.

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SpaceX launches another 23 Starlink satellites

3:13 pm

SpaceX this afternoon completed its second launch today, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral carrying 23 Starlink satellites.

The first stage completed its fourteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The earlier launch was from Vandenberg, also with a payload of Starlink satellites.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

107 SpaceX
49 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 124 to 72, while SpaceX by itself still leads the entire world, including American companies, 107 to 89.

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SpaceX launches 20 more Starlink satellites

9:38 am

SpaceX early this morning successfully launched another 20 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Vandenberg in California.

The first stage completed its fourteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

106 SpaceX
49 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 123 to 72, while SpaceX by itself still leads the entire world, including American companies, 106 to 89.

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Successful deployment of large array antennas on all five AST’s satellites

12:48 pm

AST SpaceMobile has now successfully unfolded the large array antennas on all five the satellites it launched in September, and did so six weeks ahead of schedule.

“The unfolding of the first five commercial satellites is a significant milestone for the company. These five satellites are the largest commercial communications arrays ever launched in low Earth orbit,” commented Abel Avellan, founder, Chairman and CEO of AST SpaceMobile, in a statement. “It is a significant achievement to commission these satellites, and we are now accelerating our path to commercial activity.”

The satellites are designed to act like cell towers in space, providing direct satellite-to-cellphone coverage and fill gaps in ground-based cell service. ATT has already signed a contract with AST to use these satellites.

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SpaceX yesterday launched another 23 Starlink satellites

5:34 pm

SpaceX yesterday successfully launched 23 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

While the video link above says 23, a UPI report said the launch placed 22 satellites in orbit. I have no idea which is right, as the number of Starlinks on these launches range from 20 to 23.

The first stage completed its 19th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

105 SpaceX
48 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 122 to 71, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 105 to 88.

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SpaceX launches 23 more Starlink satellites

8:34 pm

SpaceX today successfully launched another 23 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.

The first stage completed its 18th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

103 SpaceX
48 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 120 to 71, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 103 to 88.

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SpaceX asks FCC for license revision for launching nearly 30,000 Starlink satellites

8:51 am

SpaceX on October 11, 2024 submitted a request to the FCC to revise its Starlink satellite license to cover a revised plan for its second generation satellites that includes a request to place 29,988 Starlink satellites in orbit.

SpaceX first requests several amendments to the orbital parameters of its Gen2 system between 340 km and 365km altitude to keep pace with rapidly evolving global demand for high-quality broadband. First,SpaceX amends the inclination of its orbital shell at a nominal altitude of 345 km from 46 degrees to 48 degrees. SpaceX also amends its pending Gen2 application to seek authority to operate satellites in its Gen2 system in two additional orbital shells — at 355 km altitude in a 43-degree inclination and at 365 km altitude in a 28- or 32-degree inclination. The total number of operational satellites will remain 29,988 satellites across the amended Gen2 system.

With the exception of its polar shell at 360 km, which will remain unchanged, SpaceX also amends its application to more flexibly distribute satellites in its shells between 340 km and 365 km than requested in its pending application, specifically, in up to 72 planes per shell and up to 144 satellites per plane. While this reconfiguration will result in two additional shells and a higher maximum number of orbital planes and satellites per plane for all but one shell between 340 km and 365 km, the total number of operational satellites in the Gen2 system will remain 29,988 satellites.

In the company’s previous request for this number of satellites, the FCC had approved only 7,500, the full request still pending. We can expect objections from the other big satellite constellations to this request. The FCC’s response remains unclear. There could be legitimate reasons to limit SpaceX request, but it is also possible politics will enter the decision as well, for illegitimate reasons.

Meanwhile, astronomers are already whining about the problems these Starlink satellites will cause to their ground-based telescopes. It seems these so-called brilliant scientists can’t get it through their heads that astronomy from Earth will become increasingly difficult in the coming years — with hundreds of thousands of satellites planned from many satellite constellations, not just SpaceX — while astronomy from space has always been a better choice anyway. Rather than demand regulation or restrictions on these new satellite constellations, they should be pushing hard to developing new orbiting telescopes, now, for launch as quickly as possible.

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SpaceX launches 21 more Starlink satellites

4:39 pm

SpaceX today successfully launched another 21 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.

The first stage completed its seventeenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

101 SpaceX
46 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 118 to 69, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 101 to 86.

4 comments

SpaceX completes two launches last night from opposite coasts

8:46 am

With the FAA bureaucrats finally getting out of the way and lifting its absurd and clearly politically motiavated grounding of SpaceX, the company has wasted no time in resuming flight. Last night it completed two Starlink launches only two hours apart from opposite coasts.

First, it launched 23 satellites from Cape Canaveral, using a Falcon 9 rocket with a first stage flying on its eleventh flight and successfully landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.

Then, two hours later it launched 20 more Starlink satellites from Vandenberg, with a Falcon 9 first stage flying for the nineteenth time and successfully landing on a drone ship in the Pacific.

With these two launches, the company has completed 100 successful launches in 2024. It had already broken its own record for the most launches by a private company in a single year when it put Starship/Superheavy into orbit on October 13th. Whether it can achieve its goal of 150 launches in this year remains uncertain, but what does it matter? SpaceX has unequivocally proven the benefits of private ownership and capitalism, now achieving as many launches as any other entire country. Russia had completed 100 launches in 1982, which was only topped last year by the United States, but only because SpaceX made it happen.

And literally the sky is the limit, since as long as SpaceX is producing revenue and profits from its effort — which it is — there is nothing to stop it from topping these numbers for decades to come.

The leaders in the 2024 launch race:

100 SpaceX
45 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab

American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 117 to 68, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 100 to 85.

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European phone companies demand the FCC stop SpaceX’s cell-to-satellite Starlink plans

10:22 am

Several European phone companies have now submitted a request to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to block a waiver that would allow SpaceX to operate its new cell-to-satellite Starlink satellites at radio frequencies normally not permitted.

This request follows similar requests by Verizon and AT&T to the FCC. The fear is that the use of these frequencies in the low orbit of Starlink satellites will interfere with satellites in the much higher geosynchronous orbits that these phone companies presently use.

While those concerns might be valid (SpaceX says no), these companies also fear the competition of Starlink itself, as its low orbit means it can provide better service, and are clearly hoping the FCC will act to protect them from that competition.

In a more sane world, the FCC would decide this issue on purely technical grounds. It was formed expressly to police the frequencies so that users would not interfere or pirate each others licenses, and had done that job quite well for decades.

Sadly, the FCC no longer confines itself to this one job. For the past four years the FCC has arbitrarily decided its job should include many other things not listed in its statutory authority, such as policing the de-orbiting of satellites and determining the acceptable lifespans of orbiting spacecraft, while also making many decisions based entirely on political factors, sometimes even favoring some companies over others for partisan reasons.

Thus we should have no confidence that the FCC will make this decision on purely technical grounds, especially since it has shown a clear hostility to SpaceX in its recent decisions.

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