02-16-2018, 02:12 AM
At around 6:22 am Pacific Time, from Vandenberg AFB in California, SpaceX will be launching the PAZ satelltelite for the Spanish Hisdesat company. Also aboard the Falcon 9 upper stage will be two “Microsats”. Microsat 2a and Microsat 2b.
These two Microsats are more interesting than the Spanish communications satellite, and more interesting than the Falcon 9 booster (serial number 1038, flown once already, and destined to be “splashed” after burnout, with no recovery planned).
The Microsats are prototypes for SpaceX’s “Starlink” satellite internet constellation. They weigh about 400kg each (plus some overhead for the dispenser that’s going to release them).
Now, I know what you’re thinking... “Satellite Internet! Pffftt... like that pathetic Hughes.net that Paul F was stuck wtih for the better part of a decade? That steaming pile of exrtement with ridiculously long latency and the speed of a syphallitic donkey with a bad foot?” - You WERE thinking that, right?
No... Not like that. The Starlink constellation will be, once it’s fully operational, four thousand satellites. Yes, 4,000 of them. They will be in a MUCH lower orbit, with HUGELY less latency, and MUCH greater speeds. Plus, they have the advantage of not needing to be in geosynchronous orbit, WAAAAYYY up yonder where a dead satellite would stay for thousands of years. No, any dead satellite of this 4000 strong constellation would decay within a decade and burn up.
Starlink COULD be the beginning of a “new internet”. Now, I may be a little overly optimistic here, sure... but think about it from a compeitition standpoint - There will be NOWHERE on earth that Starlink does not operate. Every single ISP on earth now has a competitor. They can’t just sit back and say “We don’t actually have to give our customers what they want - we have this nifty granted monopoly, and can just raise rates and deliver 10Mbps!”.
Not anymore they won’t. People will be able to get at least 100Mbps by satellite (and FYI, it’s fully bidirectional... not that I’m judging...).
These first two satelites are “technology demonstrators”, prototypes, really, from SpaceX’s Seattle Satellite Factory (yes, they chose to build them themselves rather than contract our).
Look - it’ll be a few years before we see if Starlink is anything, or nothing, or is too expensive for end users, etc. We don’t know.
But the potential is exciting... And if things go well (no “Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies” ) then it all starts on Saturday morning out of Vandenberg AFB, Pad 4E.
Plus, there’s another bottom line here - Starlink, once it has lofted enough satellites to begin operations (I’ve seen figures from a minimum of 800, to 2500... not sure which figures are correct), it will begin making revenue for SpaceX. BIG Revenue. Like, big enough to fund BFR. No loans, no additional investors, no taking SpaceX public... None of that.
It’s going to be an interesting next decade!
These two Microsats are more interesting than the Spanish communications satellite, and more interesting than the Falcon 9 booster (serial number 1038, flown once already, and destined to be “splashed” after burnout, with no recovery planned).
The Microsats are prototypes for SpaceX’s “Starlink” satellite internet constellation. They weigh about 400kg each (plus some overhead for the dispenser that’s going to release them).
Now, I know what you’re thinking... “Satellite Internet! Pffftt... like that pathetic Hughes.net that Paul F was stuck wtih for the better part of a decade? That steaming pile of exrtement with ridiculously long latency and the speed of a syphallitic donkey with a bad foot?” - You WERE thinking that, right?
No... Not like that. The Starlink constellation will be, once it’s fully operational, four thousand satellites. Yes, 4,000 of them. They will be in a MUCH lower orbit, with HUGELY less latency, and MUCH greater speeds. Plus, they have the advantage of not needing to be in geosynchronous orbit, WAAAAYYY up yonder where a dead satellite would stay for thousands of years. No, any dead satellite of this 4000 strong constellation would decay within a decade and burn up.
Starlink COULD be the beginning of a “new internet”. Now, I may be a little overly optimistic here, sure... but think about it from a compeitition standpoint - There will be NOWHERE on earth that Starlink does not operate. Every single ISP on earth now has a competitor. They can’t just sit back and say “We don’t actually have to give our customers what they want - we have this nifty granted monopoly, and can just raise rates and deliver 10Mbps!”.
Not anymore they won’t. People will be able to get at least 100Mbps by satellite (and FYI, it’s fully bidirectional... not that I’m judging...).
These first two satelites are “technology demonstrators”, prototypes, really, from SpaceX’s Seattle Satellite Factory (yes, they chose to build them themselves rather than contract our).
Look - it’ll be a few years before we see if Starlink is anything, or nothing, or is too expensive for end users, etc. We don’t know.
But the potential is exciting... And if things go well (no “Rapid Unscheduled Disassemblies” ) then it all starts on Saturday morning out of Vandenberg AFB, Pad 4E.
Plus, there’s another bottom line here - Starlink, once it has lofted enough satellites to begin operations (I’ve seen figures from a minimum of 800, to 2500... not sure which figures are correct), it will begin making revenue for SpaceX. BIG Revenue. Like, big enough to fund BFR. No loans, no additional investors, no taking SpaceX public... None of that.
It’s going to be an interesting next decade!
![[Image: IMG-2569.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/Jn06m2gT/IMG-2569.jpg)