Jan 25, 2021 07:46 EST
As part of its record-breaking launch yesterday, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) launched 143 small satellites into orbit. Included in this payload were ten of the company s own Starlink satellites that will provide internet connectivity to the polar regions of the Earth. SpaceX was granted authority to launch these satellites by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) at the start of this month, as the company needed the body s permission to launch them with modified parameters that are part of its third modification request to change Starlink altitude and Earth station elevation angles.
Following the launch, SpaceX CEO and chief engineer Mr. Elon Musk took to Twitter to reveal more details about the payload following questions from observers. According to Mr. Musk, the ten satellites are SpaceX s first operational spacecraft that will employ laser beams to share data between them, as they follow an experimental pair that the company l
Ground stations yet to hear from new cubesats
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter
The local research teams that developed two cubesats launched by a Space Exploration Technologies Corp’s (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket at 11pm on Sunday are dealing with signal reception problems at their ground stations.
The Transporter-1 mission launched 143 satellites the most ever deployed on a single mission from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, after being delayed three times due to technical problems or unfavorable weather.
Taiwan’s two cubesats are the YuSat, designed to monitor road and maritime traffic, and the Ionospheric Dynamics Explorer and Attitude Subsystem Satellite (IDEASSat), designed for ionospheric observation.
SpaceX launch of two Taiwanese cubesats delayed
By Lin Chia-nan / Staff reporter, in Hsinchu City
Two cubesats developed by Taiwanese researchers were scheduled to be launched by Space Exploration Technologies Corp’s (SpaceX) Falcon 9 rocket from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida between 22:24pm and 23:24pm last night.
However, SpaceX at 10:37pm tweeted that due to unfavorable weather, it was delaying the launch until tonight.
The Transporter-1 mission is the first to be part of the company’s SmallSat Rideshare Program, according to the SpaceX Web site.
“On board this launch are 133 commercial and government spacecraft (including cubesats, microsats, and orbital transfer vehicles) and 10 Starlink satellites the most spacecraft ever deployed on a single mission,” the Web site said.
SpaceX Fights Back Hard & Rejects All Competitor Arguments Against Starlink Jan 21, 2021 11:35 EST
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) has refuted Amazon subsidiary Kuiper LLC s multiple assertions that changes to the former s Starlink constellation of internet satellites would cause interference to the latter s spacecraft once they are operational and in orbit. Representatives of SpaceX had a conference call with members of the Federal Communications Commission s (FCC) International Bureau to discuss the Starlink modification request currently pending before the regulatory body, and during the call, the SpaceX team reiterated its hard-hitting rhetoric against competitors.
Competitors Cherry Pick Data To Reach Conclusions Supporting Interference From Proposed Starlink Modification States SpaceX