Subj : Group 4-10 to bring Starlink to over 2,000 operational satellites To : All From : NasaSpaceFlight Date : Wed Mar 09 2022 11:15:03 Group 4-10 to bring Starlink to over 2,000 operational satellites Date: Wed, 09 Mar 2022 11:09:06 +0000 Description: SpaceX is to set launch 48 Starlink internet communication satellites to low Earth orbit Wednesday The post Group 4-10 to bring Starlink to over 2,000 operational satellites appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com . FULL STORY ====================================================================== SpaceX is to set launch 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. With the launch set for 8:45 AM EST (13:45 UTC) on March 9, the Starlink Group 4-10 mission will mark SpaceXs 10th launch of 2022 averaging one launch every 6.8 days. The 45th Weather Squadron, in its launch mission execution forecast for Starlink Group 4-10, predicts an 80% chance of favorable weather for launch. The probability of favorable launch weather stays at 80% in the backup window, which is just under 24 hours later. Following the launch, the Falcon 9 first stage will land 635 km downrange on SpaceXs autonomous spaceport drone ship (ASDS) A Shortfall of Gravitas . The ASDS was tugged downrange by SpaceXs multi-purpose recovery ship Doug , which is also serving as ASDS support. Once Doug has towed ASOG to the landing zone, it will travel another ~7 km downrange to recover the fairings. The Starlink satellites will be placed into a 317 x 305 km orbit at 53.22 inclination . The satellites will then spend several months raising their orbits to a 540 km circular low Earth orbit using their onboard ion propulsion. See Also Starlink 4-10 Updates SpaceX Missions Section L2 SpaceX Section Click here to Join L2 As the Falcon 9 lifts off, it will hug the coast of the Bahamas then turn 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. 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. 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 will land on an ASDS. Starlink is SpaceXs 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: Shells Inclination () Orbital Altitude (km) Planes Satellites per Plane Number of Satellites Active Satellites Shell 1 53 550 72 22 1,584 1,534 Shell 2 70 570 36 20 720 51 Shell 3 97.6 560 6 58 348 3 Shell 4 53.2 540 72 22 1,584 403 Shell 5 97.6 560 4 43 172 0 (Active satellite data from Jonathan McDowell ) This mission will boost 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. Launch Timeline: At T-38 minutes, the launch director will hold a technical Go/No-Go poll for propellant loading. Assuming all systems and teams are go, the vehicle will begin propellant loading at T-35 minutes. The Falcon 9 uses super-chilled liquid oxygen and sub-cooled RP-1 kerosene. By further chilling and therefore increasing the density of propellants, SpaceX is able to get more performance out of the Falcon 9. At T-1 minute the Falcon 9 will enter 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 vehicles tanks increases as they prepare for the stresses of launch. At T-2.7 seconds, Falcon 9 will command the start of its engines. The engines will ignite in pairs to reduce startup transients on the vehicle. Once the vehicle has verified that all systems are nominal, the Falcon 9 will command the launch clamps to release, letting the rocket lift off of the pad. HR/MIN/SEC EVENT 00:01:12 Max Q (moment of peak mechanical stress on the rocket) 00:02:30 1st stage main engine cutoff (MECO) 00:02:34 1st and 2nd stages separate 00:02:41 2nd stage engine starts (SES-1) 00:02:45 Fairing deployment 00:06:50 1st stage entry burn start 00:07:12 1st stage entry burn complete 00:08:25 1st stage landing burn start 00:08:45 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-1) 00:08:51 1st stage landing 00:56:50 2nd stage engine starts (SES-2) 00:56:51 2nd stage engine cutoff (SECO-2) 01:05:52 Starlink satellites deploy The first stage will power the initial ascent, and after separating from the upper stage make a landing on A Shortfall of Gravitas. Once the second stage reaches orbit and deploys the satellites, the stage will perform a deorbit burn. SpaceX has two more launches scheduled for March: Starlink Group 4-12, launching on B1051-12 in mid-March, and SpaceXs first private mission to the International Space Station, Axiom-1 , on March 30. (Lead photo: Falcon 9 B1052 stands at SLC-40 ahead of the CSG-2 mission in January. Credit: Stephen Marr for NSF) The post Group 4-10 to bring Starlink to over 2,000 operational satellites appeared first on NASASpaceFlight.com . ====================================================================== Link to news story: https://www.nasaspaceflight.com/2022/03/starlink-group-4-10/ --- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 (Linux/64) * Origin: tqwNet Science News (1337:1/100) .