Jan 10, 2025, SpaceX Starship will have the seventh laucnh and deploy 10 Starlink simulators. They will be similar in size and weight to next-generation (V3) Starlink satellites as the first exercise of a satellite deploy mission. The Starlink simulators will be on the same suborbital trajectory as Starship, with splashdown targeted in the Indian Ocean. A relight of a single Raptor engine while in space is also planned.
I had indicated that SpaceX would begin launching Starlink Version 3 satellites before they were catching and reusing Starships. I think SpaceX will perfect the booster catch with this next mission (Jan 10, 2025).
Here is where I predicted that SpaceX would begin deploying Starlink Version 3 satellites from SpaceX Starship even before reusability is fully mastered.
The Starship is going up to orbit anyway. If the pieces are destroyed after it reaches orbit then it is a normal non-reusable rocket. SpaceX launched payloads using Falcon 9 when they were still learning to reuse the booster.
The upcoming flight test will launch a new generation ship with significant upgrades, attempt Starship’s first payload deployment test, fly multiple reentry experiments geared towards ship catch and reuse, and launch and return the Super Heavy booster.
A block of planned upgrades to the Starship upper stage will debut on this flight test, bringing major improvements to reliability and performance. The vehicle’s forward flaps have been reduced in size and shifted towards the vehicle tip and away from the heat shield, significantly reducing their exposure to reentry heating while simplifying the underlying mechanisms and protective tiling. Redesigns to the propulsion system, including a 25 percent increase in propellant volume, the vacuum jacketing of feedlines, a new fuel feedline system for the vehicle’s Raptor vacuum engines, and an improved propulsion avionics module controlling vehicle valves and reading sensors, all add additional vehicle performance and the ability to fly longer missions. The ship’s heat shield will also use the latest generation tiles and includes a backup layer to protect from missing or damaged tiles.
The vehicle’s avionics underwent a complete redesign, adding additional capability and redundancy for increasingly complex missions like propellant transfer and ship return to launch site. Avionics upgrades include a more powerful flight computer, integrated antennas which combine Starlink, GNSS, and backup RF communication functions into each unit, redesigned inertial navigation and star tracking sensors, integrated smart batteries and power units that distribute data and 2.7MW of power across the ship to 2