Starlink

Starlink is a SpaceX project designed to provide low latency, high bandwidth broadband services with continual coverage to end users, even in difficult-to-reach areas. This is set to be achieved by launching a network of thousands of satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO)—an altitude that is usually less than 1000 kilometers and can be as low as 160 kilometers above Earth.

Customers of Starlink's broadband service receive a Starlink terminal to access the network. Starlink provides service to over 1 million active customers across sixty countries. As of 2023, approximately 4,368 LEO Starlink satellites orbit the Earth, and SpaceX has conducted 105 total licensed launches of Starlink satellites.

The U.S. Air Force is testing the Starlink system in military aircraft in a program called Global Lightening. The project is testing encrypted military communications by Starlink terminals in C-12 military transport aircraft.

The name "Starlink" was inspired by Musk after John Green's book Fault in Our Stars. And the novel’s book title was inspired by a line from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”

The Starlink satellites are designed with a flat panel and a single solar array. They weigh approximately 227 kg, allowing SpaceX to maximize production and the Falcon 9's launch capabilities. The satellites are launched in dense stacks. They feature autonomous collision avoidance with input from the Department of Defense's Debris Tracking system to avoid space debris. Their navigation sensors tell each satellite its altitude to enable precise placement of each satellite. The satellites use ion thrusters powered by krypton for maneuverability. They also feature four phased array antennas on each satellite to handle throughput.

A digital mock-up of a Starlink satellite

Each satellite is designed for 95 percent burn-up in the Earth's atmosphere at the end of the satellite's lifecycle. SpaceX is working on future designs to have complete disintegration on reentry. Their operational altitude is 550 km to remain under the altitude of traditional satellites.

In 2024, Starlink announced a plan to deorbit one hundred first-generation Starlink satellites due to a potential flaw that could cause these satellites to completely fail. The deorbit is designed to have no impact on Starlink customers and is expected to test Starlink's claim that the satellites will disintegrate upon re-entry and not cause dangerous debris to fall to Earth.

The Gen 2 satellites are not the generation 2 satellites originally promised by SpaceX and Starlink but are an increase to the capabilities of the original satellites with some minor design improvements. This is partially based on the lack of availability of SpaceX's Starship launch vehicle, which is expected to handle launches of heavier satellites. These V2 satellites are designed to provide faster internet speed by using more powerful phased array antennas, which are also intended to have increased reliability. Other improvements included argon thrusters for orbital maneuvering, the use of dielectric mirror film and low-reflectivity black paint to reduce light pollution from the constellation, and a redesign of the solar arrays to allow off-pointing to reduce reflections of the satellites.

An update to the V2 satellites introduced a new direct-to-cell feature, which allowed Starlink to connect directly to cell phones. These units were developed to include larger and more sensitive antennas specifically to carry the necessary LTE equipment and to offer the direct-to-cell capability.

To achieve this, SpaceX and Starlink received approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission to test the feature, which it planned to do with T-Mobile in the United States and with other telecom companies Starlink has partnerships in Australia, Canada, and Japan. The service is intended to allow for mobile phone connectivity anywhere on Earth, including in places where existing terrestrial cellular networks cannot reach, with the Starlink satellites acting as cell towers in space.

Starlink estimated that texting through their constellation would be offered by 2024, with the first direct-to-cell satellites launched in 2024, and that these services would expand to data services in 2025 and connection for internet of things devices also offered in 2025, although the latter would require Starlink to get regulatory approval for commercial service.

The first launch of the Starlink satellites took place May 23, 2019, with sixty satellites. They launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on board SpaceX's Falcon 9.

View from the Falcon 9 rocket and the 60 Starlink satellites awaiting deployment from their May 23, 2019 launch

In November 2019, Starlink launched its second payload of sixty satellites. These satellites included a change in satellite design in which 100 percent of the device burns upon reentry. Rather than deploying at an altitude of 440 km as they did during the first launch, they deployed at an altitude of 280 km to ensure all satellites were operating as intended and then moved into their intended orbital altitude of 500 km.

Through 2020, Starlink continued to launch more satellites on SpaceX launches. This culminated in more than 800 satellites launching into orbit on Falcon 9 launch vehicles and allowed SpaceX to continue to practice controlled landings of their launch vehicles for the reuse of those vehicles. The satellites launched were also noted to be mostly operational. In most cases, those satellites that were not operational were test satellites intentionally decommissioned.

Compared to 2020, the launches in 2021 saw fewer satellites enter into orbit, due to a lull in Starlink launches as the satellites were updated, including equipping them with laser-based systems to communicate between satellites with each other in orbit and lessen the amount of orbit-to-ground communications. Despite the lull, by the end of launch season in 2021, Starlink had placed 1,844 satellites into orbit, well beyond the company's initial quota of 1,440 satellites. Starlink also received official approval for thousands more.

In 2022, Starlink began launching its second-generation satellites as part of its Gen 2 constellation. The satellites were launched at a 530 km altitude with a 43-degree inclination. These launches continued to use the Falcon 9 launch vehicles, in some launches using Falcon 9 rockets, which had previously flown and been successfully recovered. By the end of 2022, the Starlink constellation was believed to be composed of 3,000 satellites, which were providing internet access to over 500,000 subscribers.

In 2023, Starlink continued launching its Gen 2 constellation while aligning with Spacex's goal of achieving 144 launches in the year and around ten times per month. SpaceX was able to turn around launches generally in nine days, but to meet the goal, they would need to get that turnaround time down to six days. This was an increase from 2022, which had a turnaround time averaging forty days. The launch goal for 2024 is twelve per month. Unfortunately, Starlink fell short of their goal due to delays through December of 2023, and ending the year ninety-eight launches for 2023. By the end of 2023, Starlink's constellation consisted of over 5,500 small satellites for more than 2 million subscribers.

In 2024, Starlink and SpaceX announced their endeavor to continue the launch cadence established in 2023. This poised both for twelve flights per month, with one launch every 2.8 days, and looking to achieve 144 launches in the year if there were no need to postpone launches. However, as seen in 2023, where SpaceX and Starlink were on pace for that, the need to postpone the launches left them at ninety-eight. In January, there were seven Starlink launches, which included the first deployment of the direct-to-smartphone Starlink satellites. In February of 2024, SpaceX already hit postponements with their launches, delaying due to unfavorable weather before they were able to launch twenty-two more satellites for the Starlink constellation.