Subdeacon Joe Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 SpaceX @SpaceX During tonight’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink, the second stage engine did not complete its second burn. As a result, the Starlink satellites were deployed into a lower than intended orbit. SpaceX has made contact with 5 of the satellites so far and is attempting to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters. 10:37 PM · Jul 11, 202 SpaceX @SpaceX · 1h The team made contact with 10 of the satellites and attempted to have them raise orbit using their ion thrusters, but they are in an enormously high-drag environment with their perigee, or lowest point of their elliptical orbit, only 135 km above the Earth SpaceX @SpaceX · 1h Each pass through perigee removes 5+ km of altitude from the highest point in the satellite orbit. At this level of drag, our maximum available thrust is unlikely to be enough to successfully raise the satellites. SpaceX @SpaceX · 1h As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. They do not pose a threat to other satellites in orbit or to public safety. https://spacex.com/launches/mission/?missionId=sl-9-3 Elon Musk @elonmusk · 12h We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9. Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot. The satellite thrusters need to raise orbit faster than atmospheric drag pulls them down or they burn up. Tahreem Hussain @tahreem57 · 12h Well it's rare to have some malfunction with SpaceX Falcon flight but we are sure they will gain valuable insights from data to make it more robust for the future. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 33 minutes ago, Subdeacon Joe said: 12h We’re updating satellite software to run the ion thrusters at their equivalent of warp 9. Unlike a Star Trek episode, this will probably not work, but it’s worth a shot. Where is Scotty when you need him. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Kloehr Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 5 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said: Where is Scotty when you need him. Busy sorting the GNDN system: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdeacon Joe Posted July 12 Author Share Posted July 12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie Harley, #14153 Posted July 12 Share Posted July 12 2 hours ago, Subdeacon Joe said: As such, the satellites will re-enter Earth’s atmosphere and fully demise. Never heard “demise” as a verb. Kinda creative. Sorta like “sudden unplanned disassembly”. 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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