Elon Musk’s SpaceX recently launched the first batch of its next-generation Starlink internet satellites that already appear to be in trouble.
In a Wednesday tweet, Musk said there were “some issues” with “V2 Mini” satellites that were blasted into orbit last month.
“Lot of new technology in Starlink V2, so we’re experiencing some issues, as expected,” Musk wrote.
The billionaire was responding to a Twitter conversation with some users pointing out “significant” altitude changes of some of the V2 Minis.
Musk said, “Some sats will be deorbited, others will be tested thoroughly before raising altitude above Space Station.”
Here’s the thread.
In a separate tweet, Starlink Insider tweeted a graph showing the decline in altitudes of some of the satellites.
The V2 Mini sats seem to be collectively lowering their altitude. @planet4589 is this to be expected? Trajectory is certainly uncommon when looking at other Starlink launches. pic.twitter.com/O4iwWFyyHb
— Starlink Insider (@starlinkinsider) March 16, 2023
The Feb. 27 launch of 21 next-generation Starlink satellites was on top of a Falcon 9 rocket. The V2 Minis are intended to expand network capacity as Starlink crossed 1,000,000 active subscribers in December, and some customers complain of slow speeds.
Tyler Durden
Thu, 03/23/2023 – 18:40
