The cost breakdown: 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch = $30m ------------------------ $40m https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/12/spacex-starlink-satell...
The Falcon 9 should be pro-rated since some of the mission payload survived. 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch * (40 / 49) = $24.5m ------------------------------------- $34.5m
Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
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Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#22Rough luck. Sounds like no real risk or huge loss though. Imagine any other company on earth losing 40 satellites at a time and shrugging it off. That would bankrupt most space companies (except for maybe Planet). SpaceX is really working at different orders of magnitude here.
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#23Unintentional pun on "orbits", perhaps?
It's incredible to me that launching satellites is so easy now that a failure of 40 satellites can be tolerated. On the bright side, I guess this gave SpaceX a chance to talk about their debris-limiting strategy!
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#24The cost breakdown: 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch = $30m ------------------------ $40m https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/12/spacex-starlink-satell...
The Falcon 9 should be pro-rated since some of the mission payload survived. 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch * (40 / 49) = $24.5m ------------------------------------- $34.5m
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#25The cost breakdown: 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch = $30m ------------------------ $40m https://www.nextbigfuture.com/2019/12/spacex-starlink-satell...
The Falcon 9 should be pro-rated since some of the mission payload survived. 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch * (40 / 49) = $24.5m ------------------------------------- $34.5m
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#26Link to anchor: https://www.spacex.com/updates/index.html#sl-geostrom (sic)
Here's a snapshot for after that post eventually falls off: https://archive.ph/dxEAo
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#27[EDIT] OK I made the wrong assumption that this was due to radiation, but it was due to the atmosphere being 50% more dense than usual due to the storm, which led to failure of the satellites. This makes good sense. Next time I'll read TFA before I comment!
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#28> SpaceX deploys its satellites into these lower obits Unintentional pun on "orbits", perhaps? It's incredible to me that launching satellites is so easy now that a failure of 40 satellites can be tolerated. On the bright side, I guess this gave SpaceX a chance to talk about their debris-limiting strategy!
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
The Falcon 9 should be pro-rated since some of the mission payload survived. 40 x $250k = $10m 1 falcon9 launch * (40 / 49) = $24.5m ------------------------------------- $34.5m
Isn’t that retail cost of launch? Since they own the spaceships it should be 1/2 or less of the retail price.
Re: Starlink lost 40 satellites to a geomagnetic storm
#30Of all press releases in recent memory, this is the one that reads the most like hard science fiction.