SpaceX launched 24 version 2 mini satellites yesterday. Sunday’s launch was the 18th of the year for SpaceX. They aim to launch 144 orbital missions and 9 Starship launches in 2024.
In Q3 of 2023, SpaceX would launch 22 Starlink v2 mini satellites in each falcon 9 launch. They increased to 23 per launch in Q4 2023 and now have increased to 24 Starlink V2 minis. They are likely both reducing the size and weight where needed in the V2 mini satellites and slightly improving the Falcon 9 performance.
The SpaceX Falcon 9 was abke to launch 17.5 tons to a useful orbit and the weight the Starlink Version 2 mini is now under 730 kilograms each.
24 v2 minis at ~730kg apiece (confirmation they've been on a diet, and this is the main reason for the increase in sat counts per launch).
17.5t to 275km x 283km 43deg inclination (https://t.co/8yy7CtRUgX)
This is in line with the ~18.3t to LEO-REF I'd calculated earlier from a… https://t.co/4nyklTfiXf
— Ozan Bellik (@BellikOzan) February 26, 2024
This is a 9% improvement in launch capability for last year will making more capable direct to unmodified Cellphone capability.
SpaceX has launched nearly 6000 Starlink satellites but over 400 were de-orbited.
Prototype Tintin: 2
v 0.9: 60
v 1.0: 1665
v 1.5: 2987
v 2.0 Mini: over 1000 [Most of the V2.0 Mini are not direct to Cell capable]
Operational over 4600
According to statistics maintained by Jonathan McDowell, SpaceX has 5,438+ Starlink satellites in orbit, out of 5,900 launched to date.
On Febraury 12, 2024, SpaceX said it would perform controlled descents of about 100 early-version 1 Starlink satellites out of concerns that the spacecraft could fail in orbit and no longer be maneuver. This will happen over the next 6 months.
SpaceX has the capacity to build up to 55 satellites per week and launch more than 200 satellites per month, which allows them to continually improve the system and make it more resilient.
Brian Wang is a Futurist Thought Leader and a popular Science blogger with 1 million readers per month. His blog Nextbigfuture.com is ranked #1 Science News Blog. It covers many disruptive technology and trends including Space, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, Medicine, Anti-aging Biotechnology, and Nanotechnology.
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