SpaceX launching 60 Starlink Sats Tomorrow!

[sailingunity]

Originally Posted by MartinR

Actually the descending Starlink satellite performed an avoidance maneuver, as can be seen from tracking info, and it looks as if there never was any risk of collision. Chinese misinformation. They are not happy about competition, and definitely not happy about any network that might give their citizens the possibility to avoid Internet censure.

Agreed, one was ascending and one was descending. Their normal orbit wouldn't interfere. Though I see it is a concern, with that many satellites, unless they are the only ones at that altitude!

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Letterkenny

I believe it requires a GPS position to work which I suppose you could spoof. There’s a couple installs out there that you can Google but haven’t seen any on boats that actually move. Also, anticipate the cost to be more than $100 when it does come out for marine use.

I'm pretty sure the GPS is there so that the unit know where to electronically steer its array, its use for the geolocking is just secondary. If you spoofed it to show a different position, say 100 miles south of your geolocked position, then it would steer the array to point 100 miles south of where the satellite it was trying to pick up actually was and the whole thing wouldn't work.

Not to mention spoofing GPS is an incredibly reckless thing to do given the potential loss of life if the spoofed signal inadvertently reaches anything using GPS for crucial navigation functions.

[Letterkenny]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

I'm pretty sure the GPS is there so that the unit know where to electronically steer its array, its use for the geolocking is just secondary. If you spoofed it to show a different position, say 100 miles south of your geolocked position, then it would steer the array to point 100 miles south of where the satellite it was trying to pick up actually was and the whole thing wouldn't work.

Not to mention spoofing GPS is an incredibly reckless thing to do given the potential loss of life if the spoofed signal inadvertently reaches anything using GPS for crucial navigation functions.

I assume that’s the case as well. I didn’t say it was recommended but just a possibility. Further, you would just need to do it on the actual device, not transmit anything.

[Statistical]

Originally Posted by earthbm

So by now I imagine someone here must've installed Starlink at home and tried it for coastal cruising? Does it require a fixed terrestrial spot, or can it deal with the boats' motion?

Largely no you can't. Two reasons the first is network management and the second is regulatory/hardware.

Right now when you get starlink service it assigns you to a cell. Your terminal will only work within that cell. They don't yet support multi-cell service. So you probably could get Starlink service for at your marina and within a few miles in each direction but once you sail pass the border of the cell your terminal will stop working. This makes network management simple as all users are assigned to one specific cells you don't have users moving between cells and some cells being under used and some being congested. That will change but dynamic movement of users creates complications and it is a complication that SpaceX doesn't want yet.

The second issue is current hardware is legally prohibited from working while in motion even within a given cell. When it detects motion it stops transmitting. That is a regulatory limitation put into the hardware as the existing terminals are certified by the FCC as fixed (position) satellite service. The certification for mobile satellite service is more stringent due to interference issues as the dish could move not just on the surface but change the angle relative to the surface.

Both will be solved eventually. SpaceX is working to get mobile hardware which could be used in motion certified by the FCC. No idea if that is 1 year or 5 years but someday. Also in time SpaceX almost certainly will come up with mobile plans where terminals can work across multiple cells. The market for marine and aviation internet service is just too lucrative to not tackle that. My guess is it will require more expensive hardware and more expensive service plan if/when available but that is par for the course when it comes to marine anything.

[bcboomer]

Originally Posted by Statistical

The second issue is current hardware is legally prohibited from working while in motion even within a given cell. When it detects motion it stops transmitting. That is a regulatory limitation put into the hardware as the existing terminals are certified by the FCC as fixed (position) satellite service. The certification for mobile satellite service is more stringent due to interference issues as the dish could move not just on the surface but change the angle relative to the surface.

B.

Mine doesn't stop until I leave my cell. It works just fine while moving until I hit the "border".
There are a number of RV people resetting their location as they travel but only when there is a cell with surplus space.
I haven't tried that because I don't want to chance not getting my spot back in the marina for the rest of the year that we're not cruising.
Hopefully there will be enough of the new satellites up by summer or fall to change that.

[IslandHopper]

SpaceX to lose up to 40 Starlink satellites after geomagnetic storm

Elon Musk’s firm says 80% of the satellites it launched last week are expected to burn up instead of reaching orbit

https://www.theguardian.com/science/...magnetic-storm

SpaceX will lose up to 40 of the 49 Starlink satellites it launched last week as the result of a geomagnetic storm, the company has announced.

Elon Musk’s firm launched the satellites into low-Earth orbit on 3 February from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, but 80% of them are now expected to burn up instead of reaching their intended orbit.

“Unfortunately, the satellites deployed on Thursday were significantly impacted by a geomagnetic storm on Friday,” SpaceX said in a statement. “These storms cause the atmosphere to warm and atmospheric density at our low deployment altitudes to increase.”

The speed and severity of the storm resulted in an “atmospheric drag” that was up to 50% higher than during previous launches, it said.

Geomagnetic storms are the result of interactions between solar wind – a stream of charged particles from the sun – and Earth’s magnetic field.

Though the satellites were commanded to “take cover from the storm” by flying “edge-on (like a sheet of paper)”, they failed to carry out the manoeuvres required to reach their required orbit.

“Up to 40 of the satellites will re-enter or already have re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere,” the firm said. “The deorbiting satellites pose zero collision risk with other satellites.”

The Starlink satellites are designed to disintegrate upon re-entering Earth’s atmosphere, the company said, “meaning no orbital debris is created and no satellite parts hit the ground”.

SpaceX has already launched 2,000 Starlink satellites and has permission from US authorities to send up 12,000 in total.

The network has drawn growing concern from astronomers, who fear a “megaconstellation” of tens of thousands of satellites could blight the night sky and also hamper scientists’ ability to study the distant universe.

Josef Aschbacher, head of the European Space Agency, said in December Musk was “making the rules” in space, and called for coordinated action from the European Union to ensure that SpaceX’s satellite internet constellation did not prevent other countries from launching their own satellites.

In the same month, China accused the US of ignoring international treaty obligations after two “close encounters” in which the Chinese space station was forced to manoeuvre to avoid collisions with Starlink satellites.

[GordMay]

Further to IslandHopper's Guardian reporting, an update from SpaceX:

Up to 40 of the 49 small satellites launched last week have either reentered the atmosphere, and burned up, or are on the verge of doing so, the company said in an online update Tuesday night.
Ground controllers tried to save the compact, flat-panel satellites, by putting them into a type of hibernation, and flying them in a way to minimize drag. But the atmospheric pull was too great, and the satellites failed to awaken and climb to a higher, more stable orbit, according to the company.
SpaceX still has close to 2,000 Starlink satellites orbiting Earth.
Update [Feb 8/22] ➥ https://www.spacex.com/updates/

Pity that Musk didn't consult newhaul. He could probably have warned him off, this launch.

[CaptTom]

Originally Posted by GordMay

...Ground controllers tried to save the compact, flat-panel satellites, by putting them into a type of hibernation, and flying them in a way to minimize drag. But the atmospheric pull was too great, and the satellites failed to awaken and climb to a higher, more stable orbit...

Space is hard. Even for Musk. He probably needed that reminder. Presumably, this was a learning experience. It was never likely to go 100% according to plan anyway.

[GordMay]

SpaceX’s Elon Musk says the company’s Starlink satellite broadband service is available in Ukraine, and SpaceX is sending more terminals to the country, whose internet has been disrupted, due to the Russian invasion.
➥ https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/...ssian-invasion

[GordMay]

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaks to SpaceX Chief Executive, Elon Musk, and thanks him, for giving Ukraine access to his company’s satellite internet system, Starlink.
“I’m grateful to him for supporting Ukraine with words and deeds,” Zelenskyy said in a tweet. “Next week we will receive another batch of Starlink systems for destroyed cities.”
The Ukrainian leader also jokes they discussed possible space projects, which he would talk about “after the war”.
➥ https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/stat...ts-from-day-11

[Janet H]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, speaks to SpaceX Chief Executive, Elon Musk, and thanks him, for giving Ukraine access to his company’s satellite internet system, Starlink. ..........

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