{"id":24678,"date":"2022-03-09T18:27:52","date_gmt":"2022-03-09T10:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/group-4-10-brings-starlink-to-over-2000-operational-satellites\/"},"modified":"2022-03-09T18:27:52","modified_gmt":"2022-03-09T10:27:52","slug":"group-4-10-brings-starlink-to-over-2000-operational-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/group-4-10-brings-starlink-to-over-2000-operational-satellites\/","title":{"rendered":"Group 4-10 brings Starlink to over 2,000 operational satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX launched 48 Starlink internet communication satellites to low Earth orbit Wednesday morning from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 8:45 AM EST (13:45 UTC) on March 9, with the Starlink Group 4-10 mission marking SpaceX\u2019s 10th launch of 2022 \u2013 averaging one launch every 6.8 days.<\/p>\n<p>The 45th Weather Squadron, in its launch mission execution forecast for Starlink Group 4-10, predicted an 80% chance of favorable weather for launch. The probability of favorable launch weather stayed at 80% in the backup window just under 24 hours later, but the launch occurred on time on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Following the launch, the Falcon 9 first stage landed 635 km downrange on SpaceX\u2019s autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) A Shortfall of Gravitas. The ASDS was tugged downrange by SpaceX\u2019s multi-purpose recovery ship Doug, which is also serving as ASDS support. Once Doug towed ASOG to the landing zone, it traveled another ~7 km downrange to recover the fairings.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"SpaceX Falcon 9 Launches 48 Starlink Satellites\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EFpovwQj4qk?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\" name=\"fitvid0\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-14=\"true\" data-gtm-yt-inspected-21=\"true\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The Starlink satellites were placed into a 317 x 305 km&nbsp;orbit at 53.22<b>\u00b0 <\/b>inclination. The satellites will now spend several months raising their orbits to a 540 km circular low Earth orbit using their onboard ion propulsion.<\/p>\n<h4 class=\"widget-title penci-border-arrow\">See Also<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Starlink 4-10 Updates<\/li>\n<li>SpaceX Missions Section<\/li>\n<li>L2 SpaceX Section<\/li>\n<li>Click here to Join L2<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As the Falcon 9 lifted off, it hugged the coast of the Bahamas then turned farther south once clear of land. This maneuver, called a dogleg, allows SpaceX to place satellites into orbits that would otherwise require them to overfly populated areas. Starlink Group 4-10 will be the final Starlink launch out of Florida to fly on this descending node for this year. The next Starlink mission, Starlink Group 4-12, will launch northeast on the ascending node.<\/p>\n<p>The Falcon 9 booster supporting Starlink Group 4-10 is B1052-4. B1052 first flew as the Minus Y (My) booster on the Arabsat-6A and STP-2 Falcon Heavy missions, meaning it was positioned in the negative Y direction from the center core. Following STP-2, the booster was converted from a Falcon Heavy side core to a Falcon 9.<\/p>\n<p>Aerospace &amp; Defense<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>NASA educational resources<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>Space Technology<path d=\"M7.59009 18.59L9.00009 20L17.0001 12L9.00009 4L7.59009 5.41L14.1701 12\" style=\"animation: initial !important; background: initial !important; border: 0px !important; box-shadow: none !important; color: inherit !important; cursor: inherit !important; direction: inherit !important; display: inline !important; fill: currentcolor !important; filter: initial !important; float: none !important; margin: 0px !important; opacity: initial !important; outline: 0px !important; overflow: initial !important; padding: 0px !important; stroke: initial !important; transform: initial !important; vertical-align: initial !important; visibility: inherit !important;\"><\/path>\n<p>     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/p>\n<p>This process consisted of removing the nose cone, mounting the interstage, and removing the forward and aft pushers. As the name implies, B1052-4 has supported three previous missions; interestingly, the booster landed on land on all three previous flights, making this flight the first time it landed on an ASDS.<\/p>\n<p>Starlink is SpaceX\u2019s low Earth orbit satellite internet constellation. With the goal of providing low latency, high-speed internet around the entire globe, Starlink currently consists of over 2,000 satellites in orbit:<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><b>Shells<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Inclination (\u00b0)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Orbital Altitude (km)<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Planes<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Satellites per Plane<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Number of Satellites<\/b><\/td>\n<td><b>Active Satellites<\/b><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shell 1<\/td>\n<td>53<\/td>\n<td>550<\/td>\n<td>72<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>1,584<\/td>\n<td>1,534<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shell 2<\/td>\n<td>70<\/td>\n<td>570<\/td>\n<td>36<\/td>\n<td>20<\/td>\n<td>720<\/td>\n<td>51<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shell 3<\/td>\n<td>97.6<\/td>\n<td>560<\/td>\n<td>6<\/td>\n<td>58<\/td>\n<td>348<\/td>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shell 4<\/td>\n<td>53.2<\/td>\n<td>540<\/td>\n<td>72<\/td>\n<td>22<\/td>\n<td>1,584<\/td>\n<td>403<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>Shell 5<\/td>\n<td>97.6<\/td>\n<td>560<\/td>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>43<\/td>\n<td>172<\/td>\n<td>0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>(Active satellite data from Jonathan McDowell)<\/p>\n<p>This mission boosted the total number of working Starlink satellites to over 2,000, the first time in history that a satellite constellation has reached this milestone. SpaceX is hoping to completely fill the fourth shell of Starlink by the end of the year with about 40 Starlink missions in 2022.<\/p>\n<p><b>Launch Timeline:<\/b><\/p>\n<p>At T-38 minutes, the launch director held a technical Go\/No-Go poll for propellant loading. Once all systems and teams are \u201cgo,\u201d the vehicle began propellant loading at T-35 minutes.<\/p>\n<p>The Falcon 9 uses super-chilled liquid oxygen and sub-cooled RP-1 kerosene. By further chilling \u2013 and therefore increasing the density of \u2013 propellants, SpaceX is able to get more performance out of the Falcon 9.<\/p>\n<p>At T-1 minute the Falcon 9 entered startup. This means that the vehicle is in charge of the launch countdown: all technical aborts from this point forward are handled by the Falcon 9 itself. Additionally, the pressure in all of the vehicle\u2019s tanks increases as they prepare for the stresses of launch.<\/p>\n<p>At T-2.7 seconds, Falcon 9 commanded the start of its engines. The engines ignite in pairs to reduce startup transients on the vehicle. Once the vehicle has verified that all systems are nominal, the Falcon 9 commands the launch clamps to release, letting the rocket lift off of the pad.<\/p>\n<table class=\"regular\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<th>HR\/MIN\/SEC<\/th>\n<th>EVENT<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:01:12<\/td>\n<td>Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:02:30<\/td>\n<td>1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:02:34<\/td>\n<td>1st and 2nd stages separate<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:02:41<\/td>\n<td>2nd stage engine starts (SES-1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:02:45<\/td>\n<td>Fairing deployment<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:06:50<\/td>\n<td>1st stage entry burn start<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:07:12<\/td>\n<td>1st stage entry burn complete<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:08:25<\/td>\n<td>1st stage landing burn start<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:08:45<\/td>\n<td>2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:08:51<\/td>\n<td>1st stage landing<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:56:50<\/td>\n<td>2nd stage engine starts (SES-2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>00:56:51<\/td>\n<td>2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>01:05:52<\/td>\n<td>Starlink satellites deploy<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>The first stage powered the initial ascent, and after separating from the upper stage made a landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas. Once the second stage has reached orbit and deployed the satellites, the stage will perform a deorbit burn.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX has two more launches scheduled for March: Starlink Group 4-12, launching on B1051-12 in mid-March, and SpaceX\u2019s first private mission to the International Space Station, Axiom-1, on March 30.<\/p>\n<p><em>(Lead photo: Falcon 9 launches Starlink Group 4-10. Credit: Stephen Marr for NSF)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SpaceX launched 48 Starlink internet communication satellites to low Earth orbit Wednesday morning from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. Liftoff occurred at 8:45 AM EST (13:45 UTC) on March 9, with the Starlink Group 4-10 mission marking SpaceX\u2019s 10th launch of 2022 \u2013 averaging one launch every [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1695,806,7853,479,675,316,440],"class_list":["post-24678","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-cape-canaveral","tag-ccsfs","tag-f9","tag-falcon-9","tag-slc-40","tag-spacex","tag-starlink"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24678"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24678"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24678\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24678"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24678"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24678"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}