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WASHINGTON – SpaceX has set a new milestone in Falcon 9 reuse with the latest launch of the Starlink satellite on November 24 as the company seeks permission to deploy Starlink satellites in a new orbit.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:13 pm Eastern. The rocket’s upper stage released its payload of 60 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit about 15 minutes later.
The rocket’s first stage landed on a drone in the Atlantic, completing its record-breaking seventh launch. The stadium first flew in September 2018 with the launch of the Telstar 18 Vantage satellite, followed by the last Iridium mission in January 2019. The rocket then launched four Starlink missions starting in May 2019, the last of which was the August 18.
The launch was also the 100th overall for the Falcon 9, a total that includes a launch failure in June 2015 but not the destruction of another on the platform during preparations for a static fire test in September 2016.
SpaceX has now launched 955 Starlink satellites, of which 895 are in orbit. The company has begun a beta test of the broadband Internet service provided by those satellites in the northern United States and southern Canada. During the webcast of this launch, the company said it would extend the beta test “significantly” in late January or early February.
To date, SpaceX has launched Starlink satellites into orbits with an inclination of 53 degrees, maximizing coverage over mid-latitude regions but excluding higher latitudes, including Alaska, northern Canada and northern Europe. The company’s original clearance from the Federal Communications Commission required other satellites to have higher orbits and higher inclinations, but the company submitted a modification proposal in April that would lower all satellites in orbits between 540 and 570 kilometers, including those in high-inclination orbits.
In a November 17 filing with the FCC, SpaceX asked for permission to initiate the launch of satellites in sun-synchronous orbit. He applied for permission to launch 58 satellites on one of six orbital planes with an inclination of 97.6 degrees as early as December, claiming that this would allow the company to begin providing broadband services in rural Alaska.
“SpaceX is making this request now because it has the opportunity for a polar launch in December that could be used to launch its service in some of the more remote regions of the country,” the company said in the filing, claiming that “the polar launch orbits will allow SpaceX to bring the same high-quality broadband service to the more remote areas of Alaska that other Americans depend on, especially as the pandemic limits opportunities for in-person contact. “
The company didn’t elaborate on the details of this launch opportunity, but said its request was justified because it resolved a concern with Amazon about a potential conflict with that company’s proposed Kuiper project constellation. SpaceX agreed to tighten the orbital tolerances on the Starlink satellites to 570 kilometers so that they would fly no higher than 580 kilometers, avoiding the Kuiper satellites at 590 kilometers.
Another satellite operator, however, opposed SpaceX’s proposal. “But the commercial opportunity is certainly not a valid reason for the Commission to circumvent the requirements of the Communications Act and grant an application prematurely, when faced with significant doubts that SpaceX has met the public interest standard,” Viasat retorted in a nov. 19 FCC Statement.
Viasat, which has criticized the reliability of the Starlink satellites in previous papers, has again raised concerns about the premature failures of the Starlink satellites. He noted that there was no evidence that the December launch opportunity was the only one for those satellites, especially since SpaceX controls the launches.
“The Commission should hesitate at SpaceX’s request to provide it with additional authority it does not yet need when this could endanger orbital security,” he said. The FCC has yet to act on SpaceX’s request for polar launch.
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