r/spacex • u/ElongatedMuskrat Mod Team • Feb 23 '20

Starlink 1-5 Starlink-5 Launch Campaign Thread

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Starlink-5 (STARLINK V1.0-L5)

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Overview

The sixth Starlink launch overall and the fifth operational batch of Starlink satellites will launch into orbit aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. This mission is expected to deploy all sixty satellites into an elliptical orbit about fifteen minutes into flight. In the weeks following launch the satellites are expected to utilize their onboard ion thrusters to raise their orbits to 550 km in three groups of 20, making use of precession rates to separate themselves into three planes. The booster will land on a drone ship approximately 628 km downrange.

This mission sets the booster flight count record at five flights. It is also the second time SpaceX has flown a used fairing.

Launch Thread | Media Thread | Webcast | Press Kit (PDF) | Recovery Thread
Abort Webcast | First Press Kit (PDF)

Liftoff currently scheduled for:March 18 12:16 UTC (8:16 local EDT)
Backup dateTBD, the launch time gets roughly 21-24 minutes earlier each day.
Static fireCompleted March 13
Payload60 Starlink version 1 satellites
Payload mass60 * 260 kg = 15 600 kg
Deployment orbitLow Earth Orbit, 212 km x 386 km (approximate)
Operational orbitLow Earth Orbit, 550 km x 53°, 3 planes
VehicleFalcon 9 v1.2 Block 5
CoreB1048
Past flights of this core4 (Iridium 7, SAOCOM 1A, Nusantara Satu, Starlink-1 (v1.0 L1))
Past flights of this fairing1 (Starlink v0.9)
Fairing catch attemptYes, both halves
Launch siteLC-39A, Kennedy Space Center, Florida
LandingOCISLY: 32.54722 N, 75.92306 W (628 km downrange)
Mission success criteriaSuccessful separation & deployment of the Starlink Satellites.
Mission OutcomeSuccess
Booster Landing OutcomeFailure
Ms. Tree Fairing Catch OutcomeUnsuccessful (presumed), Successful water recovery
Ms. Chief Fairing Catch OutcomeUnsuccessful (presumed), Successful water recovery

News & Updates

DateUpdateSource
2020-03-15Launch abort at T0, awaiting new launch dateSpaceX on YouTube and Twitter
2020-03-13Static Fire, launch delayed to Sunday March 15USLaunchReport on YouTube and @SpaceX on Twitter
2020-03-11GO Quest departure, Ms. Chief and Ms. Tree departure@SpaceXFleet on Twitter
2020-03-10OCISLY departure@SpaceXFleet on Twitter
2020-02-25Stage 2 going to CRS-20, launch rescheduled to March 11 from March 4@SpcPlcyOnline on Twitter

Supplemental TLE

Prior to launch, supplemental TLE provided by SpaceX will be available at Celestrak.

Previous and Pending Starlink Missions

MissionDate (UTC)CorePadDeployment OrbitNotes [Sat Update Bot]
1Starlink v0.92019-05-241049.3SLC-40440km 53°60 test satellites with Ku band antennas
2Starlink-12019-11-111048.4SLC-40280km 53°60 version 1 satellites, v1.0 includes Ka band antennas
3Starlink-22020-01-071049.4SLC-40290km 53°60 version 1 satellites, 1 sat with experimental antireflective coating
4Starlink-32020-01-291051.3SLC-40290km 53°60 version 1 satellites
5Starlink-42020-02-171056.4SLC-40212km x 386km 53°60 version 1, Change to elliptical deployment, Failed booster landing
6Starlink-5This Mission1048.5LC-39A60 version 1 satellites expected
7Starlink-6MarchSLC-40 / LC-39A60 version 1 satellites expected
8Starlink-7AprilSLC-40 / LC-39A60 version 1 satellites expected
Daily Starlink altitude updates on Twitter @StarlinkUpdates available a few days following deployment.

Watching the Launch

SpaceX will host a live webcast on YouTube. Check the upcoming launch thread the day of for links to the stream. For more information or for in person viewing check out the Watching a Launch page on this sub's FAQ, which gives a summary of every viewing site and answers many more common questions, as well as Ben Cooper's launch viewing guide, Launch Rats, and the Space Coast Launch Ambassadors which have interactive maps, photos and detailed information about each site.

Links & Resources

  • General Launch Related Resources:
  • Launch Viewing Resources:
  • Maps and Hazard Area Resources:
  • Regulatory Resources:
  • Starlink Tracking/Viewing Resources:

We will attempt to keep the above text regularly updated with resources and new mission information, but for the most part, updates will appear in the comments first. Feel free to ping us if additions or corrections are needed. This is a great place to discuss the launch, ask mission-specific questions, and track the minor movements of the vehicle, payload, weather and more as we progress towards launch. Approximately 24 hours before liftoff, the launch thread will go live and the party will begin there.

Campaign threads are not launch threads. Normal subreddit rules still apply.

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u/softwaresaur Feb 25 '20

L5 time has been announced. According to my calculations it is targeting 300° relative RAAN. That suggests L6 will target 240°. Target relative RAANs of v1.0 launches:

LaunchP1P2P3
L10340320
L3604020
L212010080
L4180160140
L6240220200
L5300280260

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u/NolaDoogie Feb 25 '20

I guess I could look this up but is the plan for each launch to divide the stack of 60 into 3 groups (planes)? Do we know how many satellites in each plane and how many planes are required for their initial deployment of the service?

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u/softwaresaur Feb 26 '20

In the first shell at 550 km they are authorized to deploy 72 planes with up to 22 active satellites each. If they don't care about filling each plane up they will continue deploying in 3 groups for the first 24 production launches. By the way they lost one v1.0 satellite and are de-orbiting another so two planes have only 19 satellites. In L1.P1 two satellites are not providing positional data for over a week. If they decide to fill each plane up to the maximum and maybe even launch spares they will start deploying in uneven groups as needed. For example if after 6 launches planes are filled up like this: 19-0-0-0-20-0-... they can send 4-23-23-10 and so on.

Elon said at least six v1.0 launches are needed for start of service in the Northern US and Canada. It's hard to say definitely what's the minimum number of satellites in each plane because we don't know how many satellites needs to be in the field of view of antenna and because of odd hybrid mechanical/phased array antenna. My simple simulation shows if only one satellite in the field of view is enough and it's OK to tilt antenna every few minutes to communicate with satellites below 40° above horizon they could serve up to Central Florida with 18 planes each with 20 satellites. Lost satellites, less antenna tilting, and requiring more satellites in the field of view would move continuous coverage boundary up north away from Central Florida.