It’s done ! 21 next-generation Starlink satellites have been sent into space aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. What’s changing? And, above all, what will it bring to users? Let’s do a check in.
Starlink is one of the offers and even the most attractive offer on the market if you do not have access to optical fiber or any other very high speed connections. SpaceX has invested such a large amount of money in this project that they have taken a considerable advantage over competing bids.
As a reminder, Starlink is a satellite constellation project developed and implemented by SpaceX, a company founded by Elon Musk. The goal of this project is to provide high-speed Internet access worldwide, including in the most remote areas where terrestrial connections are not available or of insufficient quality.
Concretely, Starlink consists of a fleet of thousands of small satellites in low orbit (about 550 km altitude), which transmit Internet signals to terrestrial antennas installed in users’ homes. The satellites communicate with each other using laser links, which allows data to be transferred at a very high speed.
The deployment of Starlink includes several phases. Ultimately, we are talking about 40,000 satellites above our heads. A hundred satellites were put into orbit in 2009, then we are talking about 800 to 1000 satellites deployed every year between 2020 and 2022. In mid-May 2022, SpaceX had therefore already launched 2,600 satellites, 2,350 of which are still in orbit and 2,320 are operational. This fleet represents more than a third of the approximately 6,000 artificial satellites in Earth orbit at that date and two-thirds of American satellites.
The offer has been available in France since February 2021, for 50 euros per month for individuals, in addition to an initial investment of 450 euros in the necessary equipment. This offer enables download speeds of 50 to 500 Mbit/s (downlink speed) and a latency of 20 to 40 ms, with no data consumption limitation. Obviously, this depends on the quality of the environment, and also on the number of satellites deployed. These performances therefore constantly evolve as the launches take place.
Before talking about the new generation of satellites, let’s talk about the current state of affairs. The vast majority of satellites that provide internet access are located 36,000 kilometers above our heads, which limits the performance of data transfer rates and latency. SpaceX has chosen a low orbit, we are talking about an altitude between 540 and 570 kilometers. These satellites emit in the Ku and Ka bands, the first versions were very light, with a weight between 227 and 290 kilograms.
What are the second generation of Starlink satellites?
The first 21 second-generation Starlink satellites were launched on February 28, 2023. Initially, they were to be carried by the huge Starship, but plans have changed, as this rocket is not yet available.
Therefore, a smaller version of the Starlink 2 satellites was developed to be carried by the Falcon 9 rocket. Note that this mini edition is still much larger than the first generation. The Falcon 9 can no longer carry 60 first-generation satellites on board, but around twenty.
First Starlink v2 reach orbit satellites pic.twitter.com/0l08568mJ9
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 28, 2023
The satellites, which are about twice as heavy (about 790 kg), should be able to offer four times the data rate of the first generations. E-band antennas, which operate in the 71-79 GHz and 81-86 GHz frequency bands, should then be used. As a reminder, the first generation of satellites operates mainly in the Ku and Ka bands, but also uses optical laser links for communication between satellites. This will also be the case with the second generation.
The greater weight of this generation is mainly linked to the Hall effect electric motors of the satellites, which are also larger and more powerful. With 170 mN, they have 2.4 times the thrust of the old engines. Above all, they will work for the first time with argon, the third most common gas in the Earth’s atmosphere after nitrogen and oxygen. Until now, SpaceX used krypton as fuel (and exactly as gaseous propellants), which represents only about 0.0001% of the Earth’s atmosphere.
There is no more fear of shortage with argon, and that is a good thing. Incidentally, before Starlink, almost all satellite electric motors ran on xenon, a rare and expensive gas, a particularly large amount of which can be transported in pressurized tanks due to its high atomic weight. However, with an expected constellation of more than 40,000 satellites, SpaceX threatened to overwhelm the noble and rare gas market. With argon, we no longer fear shortages, but at the same pressure, a tank can only be filled with half as much argon as with krypton. However, the lower amount of fuel is partly compensated by a 50% better fuel efficiency.
To date, 7,500 Starlink-2 satellites have been approved for launch. As in the first generation, SpaceX will also try to reduce the brightness of satellites seen from Earth. How ? A large part of the satellites is covered with mirrors intended to reflect light. On all other surfaces, Starlink uses black, which reduces light reflection. Hopefully this will eventually remove the trail of satellites that can be seen at night.
These Starlink Gen2 satellites will also include an antenna of approximately 25 square meters which will offer satellite communication via smartphones, as well as other mobile devices, but also vehicles (such as cars). The iPhone 14 already offer this type of (emergency) connection, and Qualcomm has also announced that it will offer it in its future SoC, which will allow many Android smartphones to access this capacity. Moreover, in theory, the function is already present on all smartphones equipped with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the new high-end chip from Qualcomm.
Do you use Google News (News in France)? You can follow your favorite media. Follow Frandroid on Google News (and Numerama).