SpaceX has received the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) approval to operate upgraded Starlink user terminals. These dishes are the first of their kind that will be deployed to users after SpaceX's partial buildup of its second generation Starlink constellation, and the approval came a couple of days back. SpaceX had filed two applications with the FCC, for user terminals that are designed to operate in one place and its Earth Stations in Motion (ESIMs) that are for users who want to use Starlink while on the go. The latest application for the user terminals also shows that SpaceX plans to launch a new portable terminal with lower power.
SpaceX Secures FCC Authorization For Mini Starlink Dish To Allow Portable Use
Along with seeking permission from the FCC to operate a new portable Starlink dish for mobility-driven regular users, SpaceX has applied to operate occupational terminals that feature key specification upgrades over the current dishes. Ever since Starlink became operational a couple of years back, SpaceX has offered several tiers of services and dishes catering to those needing internet at home or at work. These target both regular and professional users, and the dishes are built based on the end user needs.
The latest user terminal application granted by the FCC features a new dish that SpaceX describes is for mobile use. These terminals have been collectively dubbed as fixed terminals (UT3) and they come in two variants. Each of these has two versions, one for consumer users and the other for occupational users.
UT3 version 2, the mobility version, significantly reduces the transmit duty cycle or the time the dish spends communicating with the orbiting satellites for its consumer variant. Its duty cycle is 9.7%, while the current Starlink dish, commonly called the flat dish, has a duty cycle of 14%. UT3 also reduces the maximum power sent to the antenna at 1.37 Watts and reduces the EIRP to 33.2 dBW.
However, when compared to the high performance variants of the current Starlink dishes, UT3 variant 2 will communicate with the Starlink satellites for a longer duration since the previous dish has a duty cycle of 33%. It will still generate lesser power due ot the mobility constraints, and SpaceX will most likely sell the UT3 variant 1 dishes to enterprise users.
These dishes also have one version for regular users and another for occupational users. On the signal generation and antenna power end, the U3 variant 1 dishes for regular users will also feature a lower transmit duty cycle, but they will be more powerful than the flat dish currently available. The third generation Starlink dish for personal use has a transmit duty cycle of 10.2%, a maximum EIRP of 42.1 dBW and antenna power of 3.69 Watts. The latter two are higher than the second generation dish's EIRP of 38.2 dBW and antenna power of 2.44 Watts. \
Finally, the occupational version of the UT3 variant 1 dishes significantly boosts the duty cycle to 51.3%. These dishes are designed to be fixed at one place, meaning that they are different from the high-performance Starlink dishes that are on vehicles such as airplanes or ships. Apart from the duty cycle, their near and far field maximum power densities are significantly higher than the consumer variants, requiring professional installation.
While SpaceX has received the FCC's authorization for all of its UT3 fixed dishes, the firm has also applied to operate the ESIM variants of this dish design. They also have fixed and mobility versions, and while the former use slightly less power for the antenna compared to the current ESIM dishes, overall, they feature higher EIRP and longer duty cycles.
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