SpaceX published a lengthy post on the company's "approach to space sustainability and safety" on its website, specifically focused on recently raised concerns about putting up ~30,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit:
"We have the capacity to build up to 45 satellites per week."
"The reliability of the satellite network is currently higher than 99% following the deployment of over 2,000 satellites, where only 1% have failed after orbit raising."
SpaceX believes the FCC/international standard of deorbiting a satellite after 25 years "is outdated and should be reduced," with Starlink satellites deorbiting within 5-6 years.
"SpaceX volunteered to provide routine system health reports to the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC"), something no other operator has ever offered or currently does"
"If there is a greater than 1/100,000 probability of collision (10x lower than the industry standard of 1/10,000) for a conjunction, satellites will plan avoidance maneuvers."
"China does not publish planned maneuvers, but we still make every effort to avoid their station with ISS-equivalent clearance based on publicly available ephemerides."
SpaceX's post comes soon after NASA and others raised concerns about Starlink Gen2
Elon Musk is holding a Twitter Spaces discussion on SpaceX's first Starship launch.
Thread:
Musk: "The outcome was roughly in what I expected, and maybe slightly exceeding my expectations, but roughly what I expected, which is that we would get clear of the pad."
Musk: "I'm glad to report that the pad damage is actually quite small" and should "be repaired quickly."
After the dramatic first Starship Super Heavy launch, a look at SpaceX's monster rocket program – with the good (prototypes in the wings), the bad (destruction and debris at and around the launchpad) and the unknown (regulator investigations underway): cnbc.com/2023/04/29/spa…
NASA chief @SenBillNelson: “I have asked, so I can report to you ... SpaceX is still saying that they think it will take at least two months to rebuild the launchpad and concurrently about two months to have their second vehicle ready to launch." cnbc.com/2023/04/29/spa…
@SenBillNelson Nelson effectively defended SpaceX before a Congressional committee on Thursday, explaining how the company is "hardware rich:"
"They launch, if something goes wrong they figure out what it is, they go back and they launch it again." cnbc.com/2023/04/29/spa…
SpaceX is preparing to launch for the 29th time this year, and the second time this evening, with a Falcon Heavy rocket carrying satellites for Viasat and Astranis.
This rocket is expendable, so its boosters will not be recovered.
Watch live:
Falcon Heavy is standing tall to launch in a little over 10 minutes
ULA CEO Tory Bruno
SpaceX VP of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero
Arianespace CEO Stephane Israel
Rocket Lab $RKLB Senior Director Richard French
Blue Origin VP of Commercial Sales Ariane Cornell