SpaceX builds Starship prototype with unique Starlink satellite dispenser
After several weeks of work and the occasional glimpse of the hardware and installation process, it’s now clear that SpaceX has outfitted part of its next Starship prototype with a truly unique Starlink satellite dispenser.
It remains to be seen whether this particular assembly is merely a pathfinder – an experiment that was never intended for flight – or an integral part of a prototype that could become the first starship to reach space or even orbit. Is. The slightly different Pathfinder was also quickly assembled in the first few months of 2022, but was eventually moved to the scrapyard. The latest prototype is quite different.
First, the rings of steel the device installed inside the Starship S24’s nosecone will eventually be mounted on top, making it almost nothing like any satellite deployment adapter we’ve seen in the past or present. The rectangular structure SpaceX craned inside a barrel-like section of five steel rings — a cylinder measuring a single cylinder — looked rudimentary about two weeks ago and lacked any obvious moving parts, causing some ambiguity. . Based on its apparent dimensions, the frame could possibly extend anywhere from 10–15 m (30–50 ft) across Ship 24’s nosecone, before the diameter became too narrow for it to continue.
If this was a satellite deployment adapter that most expected, it was nothing like any other generic adapter—including SpaceX’s own unusual current Starlink deployment method. It wasn’t until March 24 that SpaceX turned the nose barrel around, revealing an unusual cutout resembling a giant mail slot. At that point, it became clear that the nose of Ship 24 was fitted with a Starlink satellite deployment mechanism similar to a giant PEZ dispenser.
Instead of a large, alligator-like payload bay, all Starships would require comparatively small slots and an active or passive mechanical deployment mechanism. The Starlink satellites would be loaded one by one into the first slot and the recently installed rail-like frame on SpaceX would somehow be raised inside the bay. Eventually, that dispenser will be filled with a stack of an unknown number of Starlink satellites – possibly the larger Starlink V2 prototype but possibly the smaller V1.5 satellite version of today. Once in orbit, a stack of satellites would be ejected one by one through the Starship’s payload slot. Satellites could potentially be fed passively into slots with a tensioning mechanism or Starship’s maneuvering thrusters, reducing the complexity of the dispensers.
Importantly, part of the articulated Starlink dispenser ‘nose barrel’ is also fitted with a heat shield stand-off, ceramic wool insulation and netting, as with the first fully-fledged prototype with an advanced Starship nosecone design. Most importantly, technicians began installing dinner plate-shaped heat shield tiles on the exterior of the barrel section within the past few days. The rationale behind SpaceX’s Starbase decision-making has increasingly not been understood in recent months, but in theory, there is little logical sense to waste time, effort, and money installing thermal protection systems (TPS) on Starlink dispensers. Will happen.
In other words, it is quite likely that this Starlink dispenser is actually a part of Ship24 flight hardware. Along with Booster 7, Ship 24 is widely considered to be the first starship to attempt an orbital launch since the recent decommissions of Ship 20 and Booster 4. This means that it is quite possible that this dispenser is actually meant for deploying Starlink satellites from Starships. According to Elon Musk, an orbital test flight of Ship 24 and Booster 7 could happen as early as May 2022.
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