How will the Starlink satellites move from their “blob” to be evenly spaced out in orbit?
In: Engineering
Let’s say there aren’t 60, but 2 sats, and they’re supposed to be on the exact opposite side of earth. The rocket releases them in an orbit where it takes them 1 hours to circle earth, and they need to go to an orbit where it takes them 2 hours. (those are not real numbers, I just made them up) Now the first satellite starts its thrusters and moves to the higher orbit. So when the second satellite has moved around earth exactly one time, the first satellite will only have moved halway around the earth. At that point, the second sat will starts it thrusters, which will bring it into the same orbit, just on the opposite side.
It’s of course a bit more complicated with 60 sats, and the timing will also not be as neatly. But it’s the same principle: The sats will launch their thrusters one after another, timed just right so that they are evenly spaced apart.
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