Elon Musk says Starlink’s new satellites are “experiencing some issues.”
SpaceX launched 21 V2 minis, the second generation of its popular satellite deemed to be more powerful than the first, on February 27th.
“Some sats [sic] will be deorbited, others will be tested thoroughly before raising altitude above Space Station,” Musk tweeted. Musk’s tweet is in response to industry experts monitoring the satellites with some questioning possible changes in altitude.
I think only the altitude changes are significant. I think they are debugging some issue with the new sats, and we'll see in a few weeks if they resume orbit raising
— Jonathan McDowell (@planet4589) March 22, 2023
Astronomer Jonathan McDowell believes the changes are “significant” and thinks the company is “debugging some issue with the new sats.”
As SpaceNews reports, the 21 satellites stopped rising in orbit just days after launch. They stayed at 380 kilometres high, below the International Space Station, with its orbit between 415 and 420 kilometres.
While he didn’t further specify the problem, Musk said issues with the launch were expected.
Image credit: Shutterstock
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