News: 0175268627

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SpaceX Requests Starlink Gen2 Modification, Previews Gigabit-Speeds (satellitetoday.com)

(Thursday October 17, 2024 @03:00AM (BeauHD) from the taste-of-the-future dept.)


Longtime Slashdot reader [1]schwit1 shares a report from Via Satellite:

> SpaceX submitted a request to the FCC to modify the second generation, Gen2, of its Starlink satellite system with changes that SpaceX said [2]will allow the constellation to deliver gigabit-speed broadband . SpaceX submitted [3]the filing to the FCC on Oct. 11, and it was made public on Tuesday. The operator wants to make changes to the orbital configuration and operational parameters, and requests modifications for its Gen2 frequency authorization.

>

> These modifications "will enable the Gen2 system 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," Jameson Dempsey, SpaceX director of Satellite Policy said in the filing. For comparison, Starlink's current statement on service speeds is that users typically experience download speeds between 25 and 220 Mbps, and a majority of users experience speeds over 100 Mbps. In 2022, the FCC partially approved SpaceX to deploy a Gen2 Starlink constellation of up to 7,500 satellites for fixed satellite services (FSS) in the Ku- and Ka-bands, then later [4]authorized Gen2 operations using additional frequencies in the E- and V-bands. SpaceX reported that since then, it has deployed more than 3,000 satellites in the Gen2 system and the full Starlink constellation serves more than four million people.



[1] https://slashdot.org/~schwit1

[2] https://www.satellitetoday.com/connectivity/2024/10/15/spacex-requests-starlink-gen2-modification-previews-gigabit-speeds/?utm_source=Via+Satellite+Email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DNF+Email&oly_enc_id=9018C8510689I3T

[3] https://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/ib/forms/reports/swr031b.hts?q_set=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number/%3D/SATMOD2024101100224&prepare=&column=V_SITE_ANTENNA_FREQ.file_numberC/File+Number

[4] https://www.fcc.gov/document/partial-grant-spacex-gen2-application-allow-e-band-operations



Radio brightness (Score:5, Interesting)

by pitch2cv ( 1473939 )

Starlink was gonna do something about the radio brightness of their constellation. They did: their 2nd gen fleet is 32 times brighter.

"Compared to the faintest astrophysical sources that we observe with LOFAR, UEMR from Starlink satellites is 10 million times brighter. This difference is similar to the faintest stars visible to the naked eye and the brightness of the full moon."

"Without mitigations, very soon the only constellations we will see will be human-made."

[1]https://phys.org/news/2024-09-... [phys.org]

So, I wonder what more noise they're gonna add.

[1] https://phys.org/news/2024-09-gen-starlink-satellites-leak-radio.html

Re: (Score:2)

by Random361 ( 6742804 )

Man, what are we going to do when we build Spacedock?

Who will clean up? (Score:1)

by madsh ( 266758 )

A private company is putting orders of magnitude more devices in orbit than before. Some companies fail, are sold, change strategies. What sum should SpaceX deposit as safety for cleaning up âspillsâ(TM) in space?

Re: (Score:2)

by TheNameOfNick ( 7286618 )

All of it comes down by itself due to atmospheric drag. It's a LEO constellation. The cost of removing the orbital parts of Starlink is literally zero.

Re: Who will clean up? (Score:1)

by madsh ( 266758 )

All of it disappears by it self due to corrosion. The cost of removing the drilling rigs of the oil industry are literally zero.

Gigabit speed... (Score:3)

by DrXym ( 126579 )

... assuming you're in the middle of nowhere and not in a city with many thousands of other people buying Starlink who thought the data rates would be all for them with no contention.

Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.