
SpaceX is manufacturing 120 Starlink internet satellites per month - adventured
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/08/10/spacex-starlink-satellte-production-now-120-per-month.html
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Element_
Will these satellites have to eventually be replaced with updated models when
they implement the laser sat-to-sat communication?

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emteycz
Each satellite will be definitely replaced after some time, I think it is
around 5 years max. It seems likely they will not be replacing them with the
same ones but with updated designs. Whether and when it will be with laser
comms is unclear, but IMHO probable.

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shivaas
does anyone know why they can't use the falcon heavy for these launches and
launch more satellites in one go ? It says falcon 9 carries 60 satellites per
launch and I'm guessing some of the limitations are due to cargo weight limits
on the falcon 9 ?

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foxyv
A single Falcon 9 can carry 37,000lbs to low earth orbit. Falcon Heavy carries
roughly twice that mass. Each starlink satellite weighs 500lbs. A single
Falcon 9 can carry the weight of 70 or so satellites. However they can only
fit like ~60 in the fairing which is the same one they use for Falcon Heavy.
Falcon Heavy makes more sense when you need to get similar masses to farther
locations (Geostationary, Moon, Mars) or denser payloads to low earth orbit.

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shivaas
Interesting. I assumed that they would develop a bigger fairing but I guess
they did the match and figured out the optimal size based on demand for
payload size/weight

