spacetoday.net: SpaceX launches first upgraded Starlink satellites

SpaceX launches first upgraded Starlink satellites

Posted: Sun, Mar 5, 2023, 11:18 AM ET (1618 GMT)
SpaceX launched the first set of upgraded second-generation Starlink satellites Monday. A Falcon 9 lifted off at 6:13 pm EST (2313 GMT) from Cape Canaveral and deployed 21 Starlink satellites into orbit about an hour later. The satellites are the first "V2 Mini" Starlink spacecraft, significantly larger than first-generation satellites but smaller than the full-scale second-generation satellites that will be launched on Starship. The V2 Mini spacecraft have four times the capacity of earlier Starlink satellites and also have electric thrusters that use argon, rather than krypton, as propellant.