SpaceX Falcon Rocket Delivers Direct-to-Cell Satellites From Vandenberg SFB
- by Noozhawk
- May 10, 2024
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The Starlink constellation got 20 more satellites — 13 with direct-to-cell capabilities — thanks to another Falcon rocket launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base on Thursday night.
Loudly sounding its departure, the SpaceX rocket blasted off at 9:30 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base with some spectators getting a double dose of sightings when the International Space Station also passed overhead.
More than eight minutes after the launch, the first-stage booster returned to land on the droneship dubbed Of Course I Still Love You in the Pacific Ocean.
The rocket was set to deploy the satellites slightly more than an hour after departure.
Starlink, made up of more than 6,000 satellites and growing, provides internet access across the world, including remote areas where service remains unavailable or unreliable.
The 13 satellites with direct-to-cell capabilities will join others sent into orbit earlier this year to allow limited cellphone access to the system.
“Connecting cellphones to satellites has several major challenges to overcome. For example, in terrestrial networks cell towers are stationary, but in a satellite network they move at tens of thousands of miles per hour relative to users on Earth,” SpaceX said.
This requires seamless handoffs between satellites and accommodations for other factors that can challenge phone-to-space communications.
“Cellphones are also incredibly difficult to connect to satellites hundreds of kilometers away given a mobile phone’s low antenna gain and transmit power,” SpaceX said.
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The first-stage booster touches down on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship in the Pacific Ocean on Thursday night.
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