SpaceX announces second Starlink satellite launch in two weeks

SpaceX has announced its next Starlink satellite in two weeks, sticking to a trend that may see the business launch more than a thousand communications satellites during the next 12 weeks.

SpaceX opens press certification for a Starlink mission NET January out of SLC-40. There is one scheduled for late-December.

— Michael Baylor (@nextspaceflight) December 9, 2019

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Barely two weeks following SpaceX opened press certification for Starlink-2, the next launch of finalized ‘v1.0’ satellites and third party dedicated launch total, the business has announced that that late-December mission is going to be followed by another Starlink launch in January 2020. This monitors exactly with SpaceX’s plans for as many as 24 dedicated Starlink starts in 2020, a feat which will violate SpaceX’s current listing of 21 starts performed in one calendar year.

SpaceX's next Starlink launch may make it the world's biggest satellite constellation – and it might remain like that indefinitelyhttps://t.co/23mJbD6y5I

— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 25, 2019

As previously discussed on Teslarati, SpaceX opened press certification for Starlink-2 on November 24th, confirming that the organization hopes to complete one more 60-satellite Starlink launch before the end of 2019. That mission is now targeted no sooner than (NET) late-December and would be SpaceX’s final launch of 2019 if current programs hold.

Regardless of when it happens, there s a likelihood that the 60 Starlink-2 satellites will create SpaceX the world’s biggest independent satellite operator. According to SpaceX’s announcement, Starlink-3 – yet another mission – is scheduled to start no sooner than January 2020. If Starlink-2 is powerful and no longer v0.9 spacecraft fall from their functional constellation, it may be stated with certainty which Starlink-3 will unequivocally make SpaceX the world’s biggest satellite operator.

Near the conclusion of the #WSBW launch panel, SpaceX President & COO Gwynne Shotwell made a short mention of the company's Starlink 2020 launch goal. It s important. https://t.co/JR6gsMRPeN

— Caleb Henry (@CHenry_SN) September 10, 2019

If those programs hold, SpaceX will have gone into the planet ’ s biggest satellite constellation operator – with a margin – in as few as eight months out of 2 satellites in orbit. In actuality it is going to require nothing short of a wonder for SpaceX to be usurped. The business hopes to launch as many as 24 Starlink assignments in 2020 and will be simply miles ahead of its rivals in its efforts to produce orbital starts affordable and as efficient as possible.

If SpaceX and its executives are to be believed, as soon as the very first committed Starlink launch (May 2019), the expense of launch Falcon 9 was already significantly less than the cost of its own payload of 60 Starlink v0.9 satellite prototypes. CEO Elon Musk and COO Gwynne Shotwell have strongly suggested that the cost that was per-satellite is well below $500,000, which means that the absolute internal price of a Falcon 9 launch is significantly less than $30M.

For that which it s worth, Morgan Stanley'therefore assumed $1 million cost per Starlink satellite using a $50 million cost per launch. “30,000 broadband satellites could require ~$60b of incremental capital,” Morgan Stanley said.

— Michael Sheetz (@thesheetztweetz) October 25, 2019

If, as an example, each Starlink satellite already costs as little as $250,000 to construct, it’s possible that SpaceX can already launch a dedicated 60-satellite mission (including launch costs) at an inner cost of over $30M ($15M for launch, $15M for 60 satellites). Even in the former situation, a Starlink launch may charge SpaceX has little 60M in total.

At a best-case situation for megaconstellation competitor OneWeb, the business bought around 21 Soyuz starts from Roscosmos for “more than $1 billion”, translating to approximately $50 million per launch (rocket costs only). Meanwhile, the OneWeb’s satellite layout is a lot more conventional and Soyuz offers less performance than Falcon 9, causing a cap of 34 ~150 kg (330 lb) per launch. Ultimately, OneWeb hopes to build each satellite for about $1M, translating into some cost of ~$85 million. OneWeb intends to start once per month following its first 34-satellite mission, now NET January 30th, 2020.

OneWeb’s satellite manufacturing line. (OneWeb)

This is all a very roundabout way of demonstrating the simple fact that after SpaceX becomes nothing short of repeated launch failures or the company, the planet ’ s largest satellite operator ’s collapse will keep it. After OneWeb has completed all 21 of its Soyuz starts , a milestone unlikely to come ahead of mid-2021, it is going to have a constellation of ~700 satellites.

Even though SpaceX falters and manages a monthly Starlink launch cadence during the next 13 weeks, the constellation could transcend OneWeb’s Phase 1 plans as soon as Q3 2020 – up to as early as June 2020 when SpaceX manages a cadence. From now OneWeb’s constellation is finished, SpaceX could have more than 2000 usable satellites in orbit – perhaps ~600 metric tons of spacecraft in contrast OneWeb’s ~100 metric tons.

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