Polaris Dawn Mission to Test Starlink Laser Communications 

The Polaris Daybreak mission, by which a crew of 4 civilians will try the primary civilian spacewalk, will even check out Starlink laser communications aboard the Dragon spacecraft.  

SpaceX launched the Polaris Daybreak mission early Tuesday at 5:23 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, Florida. A crew of 4 civilians in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft will spend 5 days in orbit and try the primary business spacewalk. 

Among the many mission goals can be to check Starlink laser-based communications in house, which SpaceX stated may inform future house communications techniques for missions to the Moon, Mars and past.

SpaceX stated that this would be the first mission to check Starlink laser communications. SpaceX put in what it’s calling the “Plug and Plaser” lasercom system contained in the trunk of the Dragon spacecraft to speak with Starlink satellites all through the mission. A Starlink router was put in inside Dragon’s cabin. 

SpaceX has been launching Starlink satellites outfitted with laser communications since early 2021. In March of this yr, Gwynne Shotwell, president and COO of SpaceX, introduced that SpaceX deliberate to commercialize its laser expertise and name it “Plug and Plaser,” in feedback at SATELLITE 2024. 

“We’re going to roll out a functionality, we name it ‘plug and plasers’ — [to] commercialize our lasers to placed on different satellites techniques,” Shotwell stated in March. “We’ll roll that out with our new Polaris Daybreak mission developing this summer season on Dragon capsules — so we’ll join Dragon to the web. I’m actually wanting ahead to having communications to bases on the Moon, and Starlink round Mars.”

The Polaris Daybreak mission will flying larger than any earlier Dragon mission to this point and reaching the best Earth orbit ever flown. Astronauts additionally will check the newly developed SpaceX EVA spacesuits and carry out scientific analysis. 

“What the crew and Dragon goal to attain over the following few days – from the first-ever business spacewalk in newly-designed EVA fits to touring the farthest in Earth’s orbit for the reason that Apollo program over 50 years in the past to testing Starlink – all of this contributes to SpaceX’s goal to assist humanity have better entry to house on our method to returning to the Moon, touring to Mars, and past,” commented Jessica Jensen, vp of Buyer Integration and Operations at SpaceX.