SpaceX is planning to launch about 30,000 Starlink Satellites into the low orbit of the earth which works to provide fast and reliable internet connection for people around the globe. The main goal of SpaceX is to provide an internet connection to people, who are in rural areas, have no services or facilities, or have little or no connectivity. SpaceX also claims that the Starlink internet will be budget-friendly and cheaper than other internet provider’s price tag.
SpaceX claims that it needs 24 launches to provide service globally but first they will provide their service to Northern U.S and Canada because they can provide services to these areas just after 6 launches which they are planning to launch before the end of this year. After that, SpaceX will launch all of its Starlink satellites and provide service globally. All these launches will be achieved by SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Unlike other rockets, Falcon 9 rocket can be partially reused.
Now the question remains, how much will each Starlink satellite weight and won’t it pollute earth’s orbit or even space?
The answer is it won’t. Each Starlink satellite weighs about 227kg and has a compact and flat-panel design that decreases its volume. It will also have solar panels to use clean solar energy. Starlink satellites also will not pollute or disturb earth’s because Starlink will meet all regulatory and industrial standards.
At the end of each satellite’s life, the satellite will use its onboard propulsion system (thrusters) to get out of the orbit and will burn up in Earth’s atmosphere within 1-5 years. The thrusters will be powered by Krypton. Each satellite will also have a Star tracker which are custom-built navigation sensors to tell each satellite its altitude and to stay at the place. It also utilizes inputs from the Department of Defense’s debris tracking system to automatically perform maneuvers to avoid collisions with other satellites, space objects or other spacecraft.
How much will the internet be faster?
Starlink internet will be faster because it will have low latency and high bandwidth. Each Starlink will be equipped with 5 lasers that use light pulse to communicate with 5 of the nearest satellites unlike fiber cables used on land. So, Starlink satellites will transfer data faster because light travels 47% faster in the vacuum of space than on the fiberglass used in fiber cable on earth’s land.
Will it even work?
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has already claimed that the plan has worked successfully. Elon Musk even tweeted “Sending this tweet through via Starlink satellite” and retweeted in the same tweet saying “whoa, it worked!!”.
Whoa, it worked!!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 22, 2019
SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell is also confident and has already planned to do 6-8 launches before this year ends including the one that already took in May to provide services to consumers from Northern U.S and Canada.
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