> On Wed, Feb 9, 2022 at 1:24 PM Roger Clarke <[email protected] > <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: > > [ Have there been previous launches into the 550km level, which went as > planned? Was the prompt loss of 40 of a batch of 49 really a once-off > bit of bad luck, or an indicator that the environment at that level is > simply too hostile for spacecraft to hang around? ]
On 10/2/22 8:37 am, Scott Howard wrote: > They have just under 2,000 satellites already at/around the 550km level. That was quick. The FCC 'approval' to start sending things up to that level was only in April 2021. Maybe the report I read wasn't clear enough: https://www.satellitetoday.com/broadband/2021/04/27/fcc-approves-spacex-request-to-lower-starlinks-altitude/ > The license modification allows SpaceX to *change the altitude* for 2,814 *future* Starlink satellites, from the 1,100-1,300 km range to the 540-570 km range So did they reposition most of those 2,000, rather than sending up a lot of payloads to 550m, in the space of only a few months? I couldn't quickly run to ground (so to speak) the planned life of the things. Maybe it's at least a couple of years. Which would seem to mean they've got a lot of propellant on board. -- Roger Clarke mailto:[email protected] T: +61 2 6288 6916 http://www.xamax.com.au http://www.rogerclarke.com Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd 78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law University of N.S.W. Visiting Professor in Computer Science Australian National University _______________________________________________ Link mailing list [email protected] https://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/link
