SpaceX to deploy model next-gen Starlink satellites on its new Starship launch

SpaceX is making some big upgrades to its Starship test flight program, with the next flight to test payload deployment for the first time ever, and will launch new Starlink satellites into space.

These new model spacecraft will travel on the same trajectory as the upper stage aka Starship, and will splash down into the Indian Ocean. The new V3 satellites will be the first-ever payload that Starship flies, as SpaceX has been using its Falcon 9 rocket to get Starlink satellites into space, but that changes with this new Starship launch and the next-gen V3 satellites.

The new V3 satellites are reportedly much heavier than the current V2 Mini spacecraft, but Starship has an insane amount of payload capacity, making it far easier to strap in 60 x V3 satellites per Starship launch, adding 60Tbps capacity to the Starlink network each time. Each V3 Starlink satellite has 1Tbps of downlink speed, and 160Gbps of upload capacity, which is an upgrade of 10x the downlink speed, and 24x the uplink capacity compared to SpaceX's current-gen V2 Mini satellites.

• Read more: SpaceX promises huge 2Gbps speeds with Starlink through next-gen satellites launching soon

The new V3 satellite has close to 4Tbps of combined RF + laser backhaul capacity, while V3 Starlink satellites will also use SpaceX's next-generation computers, modems, beamforming, and switching.

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SpaceX explains: "While in space, Starship will deploy 10 Starlink simulators, similar in size and weight to next-generation 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".

SpaceX geeked out in a blog post explaining that there are also new technologies being tested here with the Starship launch, which will bring "major improvements to reliability and performance". You can read more about Starship's upgrades and technologies on SpaceX's blog post here.