Starlink is a satellite internet constellation operated by

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

providing

satellite Internet access Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communication satellites. Modern consumer grade satellite Internet service is typically provided to individual users through geostationary satellites that can offer relatively high dat ...

to most of the Earth. Starshield is a derivative of Starlink designed to be operated for and can host payloads for military or government purposes.

Launches

Starlink Launches

The deployment of the first 1,440 satellites will be into 72 orbital planes of 20 satellites each, with a requested lower minimum elevation angle of beams to improve reception: 25° rather than the 40° of the other two orbital shells. SpaceX launched the first 60 satellites of the constellation in May 2019 into a orbit and expected up to six launches in 2019 at that time, with 720 satellites (12 × 60) for continuous coverage in 2020. In August 2019, SpaceX expected four more launches in 2019 and at least nine launches in 2020, but since January 2020 expectations had increased to 24 total launches in 2020. In March 2020, SpaceX reported producing six satellites per day. Starlink satellites are also planned to launch on

Starship A starship, starcraft, or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for interstellar travel, traveling between planetary systems. The term is mostly found in science fiction. Reference to a "star-ship" appears as early as 188 ...

, an under-development rocket of SpaceX with a much larger payload capacity. In February 2021, Musk stated that the satellites are traveling on 25

orbital planes The orbital plane of a revolving body is the geometric plane in which its orbit lies. Three non-collinear points in space suffice to determine an orbital plane. A common example would be the positions of the centers of a massive body (host) an ...

clustered between 53°

north North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography. Etymology T ...

and

south South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

of the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

Totals

: * Satellites launched: 4447 * Satellites failed or deorbited: 357 * Satellites in orbit: 4129 * Satellites working: 4090 * Satellites operational: 3435

Starshield

Notes

References