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SpaceX has revealed that the next test launch of their future Starship rocket (flight 13), which is scheduled to take place on Thursday night this week (occurring after 23:45), will attempt to deploy 20 of their next generation V3 (GEN3) Starlink broadband satellites “for the first time” (these will not be dummy demonstrators like before). But they’ll only last a few minutes.
The service currently has around 10,800 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) – mostly at altitudes of between c.340-550km. Residential customers in the UK currently pay from £40 a month for the Residential 100Mbps unlimited data plan (plus £10pm for the hardware), which also promises uploads of c.15-35Mbps and low latency connectivity (c.20ms). Faster packages exist at greater cost, while more restrictive (data capped) options also exist for roaming users (e.g. £55 per month for 100GB of data).
However, as we’ve previously reported, SpaceX are aiming to deliver a significant upgrade to the performance and capacity of their Starlink constellation by putting the next generation of v3 satellites into orbit in the future. Each v3 will be able to handle 1 Terabit per second (1000Gbps) of downlink (up from 96Gbps on V2 Mini) and 160Gbps of uplink speed (shared capacity), with the future Starship rocket able to put around 60 of these into orbit per launch (here).
The problem is that SpaceX are currently unable to properly launch any of their new v3 satellites, which is because they’re too large and heavy (2,000kg each vs 575kg for V2 Mini) for that to be economically viable via their existing Falcon 9 rockets. SpaceX has thus had to wait for their new heavy lift Starship rocket to be ready, but these have yet to reach full orbit and the same will be true for their next launch on 16th July 2026.
Despite this, the launch schedule for flight 13 says that a total of 20 V3 Starlinks will be on board the next Starship test flight, yet bizarrely these are all “expected to demise upon re-entry approximately 20 minutes after deployment“. Talk about an exercise in throwing money out of a window space door.
SpaceX Statement
The Starship upper stage’s primary objectives include the deployment of 20 Starlink V3 satellites, a relight of a single Raptor engine while in space, and another controlled entry, descent, and splashdown in the Indian Ocean. There have also been several modifications to Starship’s propulsion system to address the engine out issue experienced on the previous flight.
Approximately 40 seconds after stage separation, Starship lost one of its three Raptor vacuum optimized engines. The vehicle was able to demonstrate its engine out capability and reach its planned suborbital trajectory. Several hardware and operational modifications have been made to address the interconnected causes with additional reliability improvements planned in upcoming versions of the Raptor engine.
For the first time, Starship will carry V3 Starlink satellites to space, which aim to greatly expand the network’s capacity and user speeds. As part of this initial test, Starship is planned to deploy 20 satellites which will extend solar arrays and antennas and will attempt to connect with the larger Starlink constellation via high-capacity lasers. The Starlink satellites will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship and are expected to demise upon re-entry approximately 20 minutes after deployment.
Six of the satellites have been modified with a suite of cameras to scan Starship’s heat shield and transmit imagery down to operators to continue testing methods of analyzing Starship’s heat shield readiness for return to launch site on future missions. Several tiles on Starship have been painted white to simulate missing tiles and serve as imaging targets in the test.
Several upgrades and experiments related to Starship’s heatshield will also be tested to continue iteration towards a fully and rapidly reusable design. Multiple tiles will be attached to the metallic side of Starship’s aft flaps along with modified tiles and attachment mechanisms in the heatshield covering the aft skirt to gather flight data on different attachment options. Finally, Starship’s heatshield will have load sensing tiles to take measurements as the vehicle experiences higher dynamic pressure on ascent than previous flights, putting added stress on the tile attachments in exchange for increased payload to orbit capability.
On the surface it might seem like a waste of money to allow 20 next generation broadband satellites to burn up like this, but the test data and camera feeds they’ll carry could yet be worth the cost. Crucially, if SpaceX can make this flight a success, then the next Starship rocket launch may well attempt to reach a full orbital trajectory and that would mark a crucial milestone toward commercial operation.