The second Starlink Gen2 launch by SpaceX could establish a payload record [webcast].
The second Starlink Gen2 launch will carry 56 satellites, potentially making it the heaviest payload the company has ever launched. The rocket is scheduled to launch no earlier than 4:32 am on Thursday, January 26th. According to the official website URL, the mission will be the second launch for the Starlink Gen2 satellite constellation.
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Targeting 4:22 a.m. ET on Thursday, January 26 for Falcon 9’s launch of 56 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Florida → https://t.co/7hft8Sh4nB
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 25, 2023
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On Thursday, January 26th, there will be a launch of 56 Starlink satellites from Florida. The company routinely launched 60 Starlink satellites at a time throughout 2020, and part of 2021. The Starlink V1.0 satellites were the first versions of the spaceship and weighed either 227 or 260 kilograms (500/570 lbs). The new satellites are outfitted with new laser links and other general upgrades.
The number of satellites each launch could carry was slightly reduced by the heavier design. The number of satellites may be smaller, but the mass of the payloads launched has never been higher. When 54 Starlink V1.5 satellites were launched for the first time, it broke the Falcon 9's payload mass record. The previous record of 16.25 tons was broken by about 3%.
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Stacks of Starlink V1.0 and V 1.5 satellites weighed over 15 tons. The company says it will launch 56 Starlink satellites at once. The weight of each satellite could be anywhere from 16.97 to 17.3 tons. Starlink 5-2 is the same as Starlink 5-1, which carried 54 satellites.
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The most likely explanation for the heavier payload is another iterative improvement to Falcon 9. In two years Gen1, V1.0, V 1.5, Gen2, V2.0 Starlink 5-2 will have collectively boosted Falcon 9's performance by 10%. The naming scheme implied that the satellites were a continuation of the first constellation, Starlink Gen1, but they were actually the first Starlink Gen2 satellites. The 54 satellites that are being launched by the company are likely the same ones that the company has been launching for 18 months.
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The Starlink Gen2 constellation is being populated by Gen1-sized satellites. The Starlink V2.0 satellites were supposed to be the mainstay of the Gen2 constellation, but they will not be launched until January 25th.
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