SPACEX - Let's look at Starlink

First, I want you to really look at Spacex’s logo at the beginning of this video!

Do you see what I see? The first up-stroke of the capital letter A is missing.
That is a bent Y.
It says SPYCEX.

I am in the process of studying up on Spacex and, obviously the first place to start is to look at their own promotional material, as is the video above. Then see what the official narrative is, by reading Wikipedia.

I gleaned some interesting nuggets along the way such as this:

Starlink has permissions to create three layers of satellites around earth. US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved, in April 2019, placement of nearly 12,000 satellites in three orbital shells: initially approximately 1,600 in a 550 km (340 mi) – altitude shell, and subsequently placing approximately 2,800 Ku- and Ka-band spectrum satellites at 1,150 km (710 mi) and approximately 7,500 V-band satellites at 340 km (210 mi). In total, nearly 12,000 satellites were planned to be deployed, with (as of 2019) a possible later extension to 42,000.

The closest shell of satellites also carries the largest number and is operational in the V-band.

WHAT IS THE V-BAND?

Wiki says:

The V band ("vee-band") is a standard designation by the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) for a band of frequencies in the microwave portion of the electromagnetic spectrum ranging from 40 to 75 gigahertz (GHz).^[1][2] The V band is not heavily used, except for millimeter wave radar research and other kinds of scientific research. It should not be confused with the 600–1,000 MHz range of Band V (Band Five) of the UHF frequency range.

The V band is also used for high capacity terrestrial millimeter wave communications systems. In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission has allocated the frequency band from 57 to 71 GHz for unlicensed wireless systems.^[3] These systems are primarily used for high capacity, short distance (less than 1 mile or 1.6 km) communications. In addition, frequencies at 70, 80, and 90 GHz have been allocated as "lightly licensed" bands for multi-gigabit wireless communications. All communications links in the V band require unobstructed line of sight between the transmit and receive point, and rain fade must be taken into account when performing link budget analysis.

On December 15, 1995 the V band at 60 GHz was used by the world's first crosslink communication between satellites in a constellation. This communication was between the U.S. Milstar 1 and Milstar 2 military satellites.^[4] 60 GHz is attractive for secure satellite crosslinks because it allows for high data rates, narrow beams and, lying in a strong absorption band of oxygen, provides protection against intercept by ground-based adversaries.

The other two layers of satellites will operate using:

The K_u band

The portion of the electromagnetic spectrum in the microwave range of frequencies from 12 to 18 gigahertz (GHz). The symbol is short for "K-under" (originally German: Kurz-unten), because it is the lower part of the original NATO K band, which was split into three bands (K_u, K, and K_a) because of the presence of the atmospheric water vapor resonance peak at 22.24 GHz, (1.35 cm) which made the center unusable for long range transmission. In radar applications, it ranges from 12 to 18 GHz according to the formal definition of radar frequency band nomenclature in IEEE Standard 521–2002.^[1][2]

K_u band is primarily used for satellite communications, most notably the downlink used by direct broadcast satellites to broadcast satellite television, and for specific applications such as NASA's Tracking Data Relay Satellite used for International Space Station (ISS) communications and SpaceX Starlink satellites.^[3] K_u band satellites are also used for backhauls and particularly for satellite from remote locations back to a television network's studio for editing and broadcasting. The band is split by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) into multiple segments that vary by geographical region. NBC was the first television network to uplink a majority of its affiliate feeds via K_u band in 1983.

Some frequencies in this radio band are employed in radar guns used by law enforcement to detect vehicles speeding, especially in Europe.

The K_a band

The portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as frequencies in the range 26.5–40 gigahertz (GHz),^[1] i.e. wavelengths from slightly over one centimeter down to 7.5 millimeters.^[2] The band is called K_a, short for "K-above" because it is the upper part of the original NATO K band, which was split into three bands because of the presence of the atmospheric water vapor resonance peak at 22.24 GHz (1.35 cm), which made the center unusable for long range transmission. The 30/20 GHz band is used in communications satellite uplinks in either the 27.5 GHz and 31 GHz bands,^[3] and high-resolution, close-range targeting radars aboard military airplanes. Some frequencies in this radio band are used for vehicle speed detection by law enforcement.^[4] The Kepler Mission used this frequency range to downlink the scientific data collected by the space telescope.

The designation "K_a-band" is from Kurz-above, which stems from the German word kurz meaning "short".^[5]

In satellite communications, the K_a band allows higher bandwidth communication.^[6] It was first used in the experimental ACTS Gigabit Satellite Network, and is currently used for high-throughput satellite Internet access in geostationary orbit (GEO) by the Inmarsat I-5 system^[7] and Kacific K-1 satellite;^[8] in low Earth orbit (LEO) by the SpaceX Starlink system^[9] and the Iridium Next satellite series;^[10] it is also use in medium Earth orbit (MEO) by the SES O3b system;^[11] and the James Webb Space Telescope.^[12]

Planned future satellite projects using K_a-band include Amazon's Project Kuiper satellite internet constellation in LEO,^[13] SES's multi-orbit satellite internet system of the SES-17 satellite in GEO (launched in October 2021; in position and fully operational in June 2022)^[14] and O3b mPOWER constellation in MEO (first two satellites launched December 2022, nine more 2023-2024, and starting service in Q3 2023).^[15][16][17]

The K_a band is more susceptible to rain attenuation than is the K_u band, which in turn is more susceptible than the C band.^[18] The frequency is commonly used by cosmic microwave background experiments. The 5th generation mobile networks will also partially overlap with K_a band (28, 38, and 60 GHz).

I would be grateful for any useful links which might enlighten me and my readers further on the mysteries of satellites. I have the impression that we need to know a lot more about them.

We need to bust some myths….

ONWARDS!
xx

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