Two out of three satellites that orbit the earth are Starlinks, but Spacex does not conform to being the world’s largest satellite operator. Now he wants to become the trunk network of everything that is in space.
The new Starlink laser mini. Minutes before aborting For the second consecutive day The tenth launch of Starship (this time for bad weather), Spacex published an unpublished video from its Starlink factory in Redmond.
The company takes advantage of the video to show off its incredible production capacity, but also to reveal a technology that will change the rules of the game while competition Keep trying to deploy Its own constellation: a “mini laser” integrated in Starlink so that any satellite or space station can connect to its network from space.
They are already testing it in orbit. Until now, Starlink’s laser links were able to transmit data to almost 200 Gbps: A technology that Spacex uses internally so that their own satellites communicate with each other, creating a interconnected mesh In space.
The mini laser goes much further. Michael Nicolls, Vice President of Engineering of Starlink, confirmed in his X account The function of this new component: “The mini laser is designed to reach 25 Gbps link speeds at distances of up to 4000 km.” And it is already successfully tested aboard a satellite of the Starlink G10-20 mission.
25 Gbps to connect them to all. A 25 gigabits link per second, available for anyone who wants to integrate it, would allow land observation companies, scientific missions, commercial space stations or even other satellite constellations stop worrying about how to send their data to the earth. They would simply connect to Starlink’s “Wi-Fi Network” and take advantage of their global infrastructure.
With this novelty, Starlink would go from being an Internet provider for Earth to an Internet provider for Earth and Space. A strategic movement that positions Spacex in the center of the future orbital economy, as well as travel to the moon and Mars.
Is the X37B trying this technology? The timing of this announcement is at least interesting. Just a few days ago, on August 22, Spacex launched the eighth mission of the mysterious x-37b military plane. As it details Daniel Marín in Eurekaone of the few unscathed objectives of this mission is to make “demonstrations of communication technologies between satellites through infrared lasers with a high bandwidth”.
This is a clear reference to Starlink, but it could also be related to the Starshield military constellation, which is, in essence, a militarized version of Starlink. The possibility that the X-37B is testing a version of this “mini laser” or a derived technology is very high. For the United States space force, to connect any of its assets in orbit to a low latency network such as Starshield or Starlink would be a huge tactical advantage.
A factory that does not rest. These technological advances would not be possible without the industrial capacity that supports it. The Redmond factory is producing 70 satellites a week, which translates into more than 3,600 per year. This production cadence, which has gone from 120 satellites per month in 2020 to almost triple that figure, is what has allowed Starlink to deploy a constellation of more than 8,000 operating satellites, two thirds of all active satellites.
With this new “mini laser”, Spacex is not only expanding its own network. The bridges are tending so that the rest of the space industry connects to it, consolidating a future where, if you want to be connected in orbit, you will have to knock on Elon Musk’s door.
Image | Spacex
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