A Falcon 9 stands ready for a Starlink mission at Cape Canaveral’s pad 40. File photo: Adam Bernstein/Spaceflight Now.
Update Oct. 21, 4:20 p.m.: SpaceX is pushing back its planned launch to no earlier than Tuesday, Oct. 22.
SpaceX is set to launch another batch of 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to low Earth orbit on Tuesday.
The Falcon 9 rocket launch comes on the heels of a week that saw the company launch a record six missions with four Falcon 9 rockets, one Falcon Heavy rocket and a Starship rocket, utilizing all four of its launch pads.
Liftoff of the Starlink 6-61 mission from pad 40 at CCSFS is set for no earlier than 6:14 p.m. EDT (2214 UTC), pending weather. This will be SpaceX’s 68th dedicated Starlink launch of the year.
Spaceflight Now will have live coverage beginning about an hour prior to liftoff.
Coming into the Monday launch opportunity, the 45th Weather Squadron forecast 70 percent chance of favorable weather during that window. Meteorologists said they are tracking the impacts of Hurricane Oscar, which may also impact the booster recovery zone.
“The breezy, onshore flow will continue into the upcoming week as the combination of a strong
high centered to the north and Hurricane Oscar to the southeast enhance the pressure gradient over the Florida peninsula,” launch weather officers wrote. “These conditions will persist tomorrow as an area of higher low-level moisture moves in, enhancing Atlantic shower activity along the Space Coast.”
A little more then eight minutes after liftoff, the first stage booster is set to touchdown on a SpaceX droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean west of the Bahamas. If successful, this will be the 280th droneship landing and 357th overall booster landing.
Expanding Starlink
The mission is the first time that SpaceX has launched a batch of its Starlink satellites bound for the sixth shell of its constellation since May 31 with the Starlink 6-64 mission. Since then, it has been building out its eighth, ninth, tenth and 11th shells.
The company has been working to get approval from the Federal Communications Commission to deploy and operate nearly 30,000 Gen2 Starlink satellites.
Back in March, the FCC approved a request “to conduct communications in the 71.0-76.0 GHz (space-to-Earth) and 81.0-86.0 GHz (Earth-to-space) frequency bands (collectively, E-band), with the 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites that the Commission previously authorized in the first partial grant of this application.” That authorization caps the number Gen2 satellites at that number, for now.
“Grant of this portion of SpaceX’s request will serve the public interest by allowing SpaceX to utilize the full capacity of its more advanced Gen2 Starlink satellites, which will improve the broadband service that SpaceX is bringing to U.S. customers, including those in unserved and underserved areas of the country,” the FCC wrote on March 8.
“We continue to defer consideration of the remainder of SpaceX’s request, including SpaceX’s ongoing use of emergency beacons, which is the subject of a second amendment to SpaceX’s application, as well as the remaining 22,488 satellites SpaceX proposed in its application, as amended.”
On Aug. 16, the FCC’s Satellite Programs and Policy Division approved a license modification request from SpaceX regarding its Gen1 satellites, of which there are 4,408, according to the FCC.
“Specifically, SpaceX is authorised to modify its operations due to planned changes in satellite hardware, including modification of beam-forming and digital processing equipment to enable narrower beam capabilities,” the FCC wrote. “This modification also reflects updates to SpaceX’s orbital debris mitigation plan due to planned deployment of larger satellites.”
Essentially, this approval allows SpaceX to launch Gen2 Starlinks as replacements for the Gen1 versions under the Gen1 authorization.
According to astronomer and expert orbital tracker, Jonathan McDowell, as of Oct. 20, 2024, there are 6,473 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit. Among those, 4,150 are Gen1 and 2,323 are the Gen2 Mini variety.
The next generation Starlink satellites, which are so big that only Starship can launch them, will allow for a 10X increase in bandwidth and, with the reduced altitude, faster latency https://t.co/HLYdjjia3o
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 14, 2024
The full-size Gen2 Starlink satellites will be launched using SpaceX’s Starship rocket, which just completed its fifth test flight on Oct. 13. The company was able to catch the first stage booster, called Super Heavy, using its launch tower for the first time. SpaceX points to this capability as key to being able to enable rapid reusability of the rocket in the future.
In addition to expanding the number of Starlink satellites that it is allowed to launch and operate, SpaceX also wanted to modify the nominal orbits of some of its shells, as first reported by Ars Technica. In a filing to the FCC dated Oct. 11, 2024, Jameson Dempsey, SpaceX Director of Satellite Policy, wrote that SpaceX wants “to lower the nominal altitudes of its shells at 525 km, 530 km, and 535 km to 480 km, 485 km, and 475 km altitude, respectively.”
“For the lower-altitude shell at 475 km, SpaceX requests authority to reduce the nominal inclination from 33 degrees to 32 degrees,” Dempsey wrote. “With the exception of its shell at 475 km altitude, SpaceX requests to modify its authorization to more flexibly distribute satellites in up to 56 planes per shell and up to 120 satellites per plane.
“While this reconfiguration will result in a higher potential maximum number of orbital planes and satellites per plane for all but one shell at 475 km, the total number of satellites in the Gen2 system will not exceed 29,988 satellites, and the first tranche of satellites in the Gen2 system will remain 7,500 satellites until such time that the Commission permits deployments beyond that first tranche.”
Dempsey argues that the requested modifications will allow the Starlink Internet constellation to “deliver gigabit-speed, truly low-latency broadband and ubiquitous mobile connectivity to all Americans and the billions of people globally who still lack access to adequate broadband.”
The FCC has yet to respond to this latest request.
Special coverage concluding
While there aren’t any Starlink satellites that feature the Direct to Cell capabilities on the Starlink 6-61 mission, SpaceX is about to wrap up a unique learning opportunity with the technology.
On Oct. 7, the FCC’s Satellite Licensing Division granted SpaceX “special temporary authority” to operate its second-generation Starlink satellites that have the DTC capacity for 15 days “with supplemental coverage from space-capable Earth stations in the areas of Florida affected by Hurricane Milton.”
It was also granted the same authority on Oct. 4 for the territories impacted by Hurricane Helene.
In the United States, SpaceX is partnering with telecommunications company, T-Mobile, to provide the service, though it has expressed an interest in working with other providers in the future.
SpaceX also began testing the functionality down in New Zealand with telecommunications company, One New Zealand.
“When we announced our collaboration with SpaceX, we were dealing with the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle, a stark reminder of the necessity of a resilient back up to our mobile network, which can be disrupted by climate-related, fibre and power outages,” said One New Zealand CEO Jason Paris in a statement.
“We’re unfortunately seeing this play out with Hurricane Milton in Florida right now, where Starlink satellites with direct-to-cell capability are playing a vital role keeping people connected as the extreme weather has disrupted their ground based mobile networks. That’s why starting testing here is a giant step forward on our mission to bring coverage like never before to New Zealand.”
Starlink d2c now beginning testing in New Zealand with @onenzofficial! https://t.co/c810mpihRz
— Michael Nicolls (@michaelnicollsx) October 21, 2024