SpaceX launches upgraded Starlink satellites in Starship test

Jan

Jan

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Upgraded Starlink satellites deployed with SpaceX's Starship

SpaceX’s Starship deployed upgraded Starlink satellites and returned to Earth largely unscathed, advancing Elon Musk’s IPO-fueled plans to scale his dominant rocket business into an artificial intelligence and satellite communications empire.

Starship is central to Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s ambitions to expand SpaceX’s Starlink network, send humans to the moon and beyond and put data centers in space.

[Bloomberg]
 
I like and respect his motivation and determination, one can from that, especially not to give up, even though difficult....
 
When are we going to see USA USA USA videos of Jeff launching his rockets and satellites?
 
This is a very strange article which missed the most important points. The deployed satellites followed the starship down in about 20 min. They were basically testing how well the dispenser works with the actual satellites.

https://twitter.com/x/status/2080834619998363897

The fact that Starship survived the splashdown intact is a HUGE deal. SpaceX will now have loads of data on how the thermal protection performs. They will most likely be able to recover the ship since there has been no reports that it exploded after the stream ended despite the fire. The drone footage they got of the tiles would be invaluable, the recovered ship even more so.

And the relight was caught by some people in SA:

https://twitter.com/x/status/2080798332260131195
 
We live in incredible times. If they get Starship up to Falcon levels of reusable, we are in for another boost in space development.
 
Are you sure they were fully functional satellites as they deorbited and burned up within an hour.
 
purrr said:
Are you sure they were fully functional satellites as they deorbited and burned up within an hour.
Click to expand...
20 min actually as stated. They were full production units. They also tested the solar panel deployments and even ion engines of the satellites before they de-orbited. Seems flight 14 will be orbital, so will have actual deployment of the V3 satellites.
 
Crusader said:
That's interesting. All reports I've seen up to yesterday was that they would scuttle it after getting as much photos & data as possible.

It's great news if they do a physical retrieval instead.
Click to expand...

It's very inlikely that they could reuse any components, but the opportunity to forensically examine an undamaged space vehicle is quite rare.
 
wingnut771 said:
Dumb question, why didn't they land the rocket in Florida?
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It's a test vehicle. All the previous ones went BOOM after splashing down. This one surviving was quite a surprise to them. The precision of the landing is so good that they will more than likely try to catch the ship during flight 14.
 
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