Yeshwanth Kumar

Low Earth Orbit Internet Perspectives SPACE X Company to Launch a Satellite Constellation Development Program called as “STAR LINK” to provide Internet with Lesser Latency and Greater Speeds. Space X : “Elon Musk” who is an Entrepreneur, Multi Millionaire and Founder of Tesla, Space X and Paypal has started a project called “Star Link” to provide internet for lesser developed areas and competitive priced internet for Urban areas with a very Less Latency and Greater Internet Speed (which is 1 Gbps). Space X is the company founded by ‘ Elon Musk ‘ in ‘ 2002 ‘ which is an Advanced Rocket and Space craft Manufacturer with Revolutionizing and Advanced Space Technology. The main aim of this company is to achieve the impossible dream of leaving earth and colonizing other planets such as mars. “ Star Link “ : The “ Star Link” Program was officially announced by ‘ Space X ’ in ‘ January 2015 ‘. This Communication Satellite Network Program is with the Projected Design Capability to give support for Sufficient Bandwidth and carry about 50 percent of Backhaul Communications Traffic and about 10 percent of Local Internet Traffic, in Densely Populated Cities all over the World. “Elon Musk” mentioned that there is a Great Demand and Less Supply for “Low Priced Global Broadband Capability”. All the Required Activities of Research, Development, Manufacturing and Orbit Control Operations for the Communication Satellite Network is carried out at “ Space X Satellite Development Facility “ in ‘Redmond’ at Washington. During the Time of Official Announcement, it was mentioned that the ‘Seattle Area Office’ was going to hire 60 Engineers and about 1000 people for other necessary activities over the next few years. As announced by ‘Space X’ the Satellite Development Project “ Star Link” is going to deploy “ 12000 ” Satellites in Orbital Shells. Initially they will Deploy about “ 1600 ” Satellites in “550 Km ( 340 miles)” Altitude range shell, after that they are going to deploy “ 2800 “ Satellites which would be “ Ku - Ka-Band Spectrum “ Satellites at an Altitude of “ 1,150 Km ( 710 miles ) “ and after that finally they will be deploying about ‘ 7500 ‘ Satellites which would be “ V- Band “ Satellites at an Altitude of “ 340 Km ( 210 miles ) “. The Total Project cost is said to be an Estimated amount of “ 10 Billion “ US Dollars. In ‘January 2016 ‘ the Space X company mentioned that there would be ‘ Two Prototype Test Satellites’ going to be launched in ‘2016’ and will start the trials of Initial Satellite Constellations in Orbit and the whole project would be fully functional by the year ‘2020’.The Design of the Two Prototype test Satellites has been completed by ‘ October 2016 ‘ but to maintain low costs for the users they didn’t launch the satellites and kept the Project remained in Design Phase to meet user costs. So the Two Test Satellites weren’t deployed in 2016 and were used for Ground Testing only. By ‘ November 2016 ‘ the Company ‘ Space X ‘ filed an Application with “ FCC “ ( Federal Communications Commission). it was meant for a “ Non-Geo Stationary Orbit Satellite System “ in the Fixed Satellite Service using Ka – Ku Frequency Bands. By ‘ March 2017 ‘ Another Application has been filed with “ FCC “. It was to field a second Orbit Shell of approximately ‘7500’ Satellites which are ‘ V-Band’ Satellites. To be Precise ‘7518’ Satellites would be orbiting at a height of just ‘340 km’, while the respectively smaller group of satellites would be functioning in Ka – Ku Bands at a Height of ‘ 1200 km’. Space X also Trademarked their name ‘ Star Link ‘ in 2017 for their ‘ Low Earth Orbit Internet Providing Satellite Communication Network ‘. In ‘ November 2018’ the ‘ US Regulatory Approval ’ was given to ‘ Space X ‘ to deploy ‘ 7518 ‘ Broadband Satellites. By then ‘ Space X ‘ had already obtained Approval for ‘4425’ Satellites earlier to that. In ‘ February 2019 ‘ the sister company of ‘ Space X ‘ which is “ Space X Services, Inc. has requested the “ US Federal Communications Commission “ in order to acquire an approval for license for ‘ 1,000,000 ‘ Fixed Satellite Earth Stations for Communication with “NGSO ( Non-Geo Stationary Orbit Satellites )” which is also known as “ Star Link System”. Launches : First Launch : • The First Launch was at “ Vandenberg “ on ‘ 22 February 2018’ at ‘ 14:17 ‘. •The Orbit Altitude was at ‘ 514 km ‘ with an inclined angle of ‘ 97.44 ‘. •Two Satellites were deployed and it was a very huge success. •The First Launch Vehicle’s name was “F9 FT” which stands for “ Falcon 9 Full Thrust “ with a flight of Booster “ B1038.2 “. Second Launch : •The Second Launch was done at “ Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida “ at Launchpad ‘ SLC-40’ which stands for ‘ Space Launch Complex – 40 ‘. •The Orbit Altitude was ‘ 440 to 550 km ‘with an inclined angle of ‘ ~53 ‘. •60 Satellites were launched and it was also a Success. •The Second Launch Vehicle’s name was “ F9 B5 “ which stands for “ Falcon 9 Block 5 “ with a flight of booster “ B1049.3 “. ‘ Space X’ is also planning to have two more launches in 2019 which they haven’t disclosed yet. Prototype Characteristics : •‘ Star Link ‘ Satellites are said to have “ Hall Effect Thruster “ with “ Krypton “ as reaction mass rather than “ Electric Propulsion System “ using “xenon” as reaction mass which is way more expensive. •The mass was first expected to be ‘ 100 – 500 kgs ‘ and when first ‘ 60 ‘ satellites were launched the mass was ‘ 227 kgs ‘. •For Precision Pointing,’ Star Link ‘ Satellites would be using “ Star Tracker “ Navigation System. •These Satellites consist of a “ Flat Panel Design “ with multiple High throughput antennas along with a Single Solar Array. •These Satellites are capable of tracking the On-Orbit Debris and they are designed to automatically avoid Collisions. •These Prototype Satellites operate at an altitude of ‘ 550 km ( 340 miles ) ‘. •‘ 95 ‘ percent of all components of these Satellites are designed to burn quickly in the Earth’s Atmosphere at the end of Satellite’s Life Cycle. ‘ Space X ‘ wants to Innovate the world with this Revolutionary ‘ Star Link ‘ program and provide Better Internet. The Further Plans of Space X are to sell Satellite Communications and Internet Services for the funding of “ Elon Musk’s “ Mars Colonization Dream.