Falcon 9 Block 5

Sep, 2022 - By SMI

During SpaceX's eagerly awaited Starlink Group 4-2 mission, 34 Starlink internet communication satellites and the BlueWalker 3 which is a ridesharing communication satellite that will be launched on board a Falcon 9 rocket. 

The Falcon 9 will be launched from Launch Complex 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, United States. A total of 3,293 Starlink satellites have been launched, 3,025 of which will be in orbit after launch, with the 59th operational Starlink mission, Starlink Group 4-2. Shell 4 will be filled in about 35 launches; Starlink group 4-2 will be the 26th launch into the shell.

There will be 243 satellites total in the AST SpaceMobile constellation, including 18 in an equatorial orbit, 75 at a 55-degree inclination and 150 at a 40-degree inclination. These satellites will orbit at an altitude of between 725 and 740 km. The first five operational satellites for the constellation will be launched by SpaceX in late 2023. These BlueBird Block 1 satellites will resemble BlueWalker 3 in many ways. The deployable array on later iterations of the satellites will be significantly bigger.

One of the businesses attempting to offer satellite service straight to cellular handsets is AST SpaceMobile. A network of satellites being developed by Lynk Global will first offer messaging services. They have already flown a number of prototypes, and the forthcoming SpaceX Transporter 6 mission will send three more spacecraft into orbit. Recently, T-Mobile and SpaceX have declared their intentions to use future Starlink satellites to deliver messaging services to mobile devices. To increase the coverage of their current terrestrial networks, all three of these constellations want to collaborate with mobile network operators (MNOs) and utilise the previously licenced frequencies of those businesses. In order to enable frequency sharing between the satellites and the terrestrial networks of their partner MNOs, these new constellations are undergoing licencing procedures.