Subject: ?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next Starship Launch?

?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next
Starship Launch?

https://www.pcmag.com/news/no-pressure-a-massive-starlink-upgrade-hinges-on-spacexs-next-starship

?Next week?s Starship Flight 14 will deploy the first operational
Starlink V3 satellites, which promise a 10x leap in bandwidth capacity.
A failure, however, could be a brutally expensive loss.?

?SpaceX just announced the official launch window for Starship Flight
14. No earlier than Sept. 22, it will depart from Starbase, Texas?the
enormous SpaceX facility near Boca Chica?marking the first attempt to
put Musk?s mega-rocket on a true orbital trajectory.?

?But there?s more going on here than cool space launches. The test
flight marks a major milestone for SpaceX and the development of its
largest cargo-carrying launch vehicle. It?s also an early landmark for Starlink, as the test flight will carry and deploy 26 Starlink V3
satellites, which will kick off a long-awaited upgrade for the satellite internet service, promising potential gigabit speeds and the biggest
step forward since the SpaceX IPO.?

I was wondering when this would happen. The version 3 Starlink
satellites are each the size of a 737 when the solar wings are deployed.

Lynn


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Subject: Re: ?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next Starship Launch?

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:

?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next
Starship Launch?

<snip fanboy>

I was wondering when this would happen. The version 3 Starlink
satellites are each the size of a 737 when the solar wings are deployed.

Actually, that's not the case.

"the orbiting Gen 3 (V3) satellites weigh about 4,400 pounds
(2,000 to 2,500 kg) with an unfolded span of roughly 23 feet
(7 meters)."

The 737 wingspan ranges from 90 to 117 feet depending on model.

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Subject: Re: ?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next Starship Launch?

On 9/17/2026 10:24 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:

?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next
Starship Launch?

<snip fanboy>

I was wondering when this would happen. The version 3 Starlink
satellites are each the size of a 737 when the solar wings are deployed.

Actually, that's not the case.

"the orbiting Gen 3 (V3) satellites weigh about 4,400 pounds
(2,000 to 2,500 kg) with an unfolded span of roughly 23 feet
(7 meters)."

The 737 wingspan ranges from 90 to 117 feet depending on model.

Got URL?

Lynn


--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: ?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next Starship Launch?

On 9/17/2026 11:24 AM, Scott Lurndal wrote:

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:

?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next
Starship Launch?

<snip fanboy>

I was wondering when this would happen. The version 3 Starlink
satellites are each the size of a 737 when the solar wings are deployed.

Actually, that's not the case.

"the orbiting Gen 3 (V3) satellites weigh about 4,400 pounds
(2,000 to 2,500 kg) with an unfolded span of roughly 23 feet
(7 meters)."

The 737 wingspan ranges from 90 to 117 feet depending on model.

This site:

https://starlink.com/updates/starlink-version-3-satellites

says the PV panels are 19 meters long. Twice
that, plus a few meters for the body of the
satellite, does take us into 737 territory.

pt

--- PyGate Linux v1.5.19
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)

Subject: Re: ?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next Starship Launch?

Scott Lurndal <slp53@pacbell.net> wrote:

Lynn McGuire <lynnmcguire5@gmail.com> writes:

?No Pressure: A Massive Starlink Upgrade Hinges on SpaceX?s Next
Starship Launch?

<snip fanboy>

I was wondering when this would happen. The version 3 Starlink
satellites are each the size of a 737 when the solar wings are deployed.

Actually, that's not the case.

"the orbiting Gen 3 (V3) satellites weigh about 4,400 pounds
(2,000 to 2,500 kg) with an unfolded span of roughly 23 feet
(7 meters)."

Actually, that's just wrong, guessing you trusted AI?... Just don't!

The 7m size for the V3 satellites in the STOWED (launch) configuration,
IE before folding out the solar panels.

Don't think there's any "orbiting V3" satellites either, all the
operational ones are V1 and V2 minis and we're discussing the launch
of the first batch of operational V3 satellites (if all goes well).

IIRC Flight 13 did launch a few test "V3" payloads but those were in
the same suborbital trajectory as the F13 so is long dead and was
never intended for anything other than mechanical launch testing and
taking photos of the booster.

The weight does appear to be about right but that's about the only
thing it didn't get wrong.

The 737 wingspan ranges from 90 to 117 feet depending on model.

The figures I've found for the in-orbit footprint for a V3 satellite
is approximately 42m*18m, or 138*60 feet.

So it's not matching the wingspan/length but OTOH I think the area
(important for solar panels) is actually significantly larger than a
737's area.

So I don't think the 737 comparison[1] Musk actually made is
unreasonable. Some of the AI comparison I see OTOH feels a bit
exaggerated.

1. https://www.csimagazine.com/csi/SpaceX-to-launch-massive-StarlinkV3-satellites-with-low-latency.php

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