They launched a pair of temporary test satellites to prove some of the concepts they plan to use. These will remain on orbit only for a short time.
I was at Vandenberg on Wednesday morning for the scrubbed launch - drat!!
This statement is directly contradicted by the FCC filing:
https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=185534&x
> The designed lifetime of each satellite is six months. If this lifetime is exceeded, SpaceX plans to continue operation until such time as the primary mission goals can no longer be met, at which point the spacecraft will be deorbited.
The text in this particular filing, if read plainly, would indicate that SpaceX could easily let Microsat-2a and 2b stay in the air potentially through production deployment of Starlink if feasible.
Of course they will use them as long as they can; that’s consistent with what the FCC was told.
Sending up these two test spacecraft — named Microsat-2a and Microsat-2b — is a big first step in SpaceX’s long-term plans to create satellite internet." Sure, headlines nowadays tend to the buzzworthy but this article seems well written otherwise.
“There are two viewing areas for launches at Vandenberg Air Force Base (VAFB). * Weather Station: The public viewing site for Vandenberg launches is off of Corral Road near Vandenberg's main gate. To access the area, take Highway 1 to the Santa Maria Gate and proceed on Lompoc Casmalia Road. At the barriers, turn right onto Corral Road and bear left to the top. The launch countdown net and port-o-lets are set up near the bleachers.”
However, do we allow journalists to disclaim all responsibility for ensuring their good work isn’t sullied by salacious editors? I’d be pissed off,and perhaps they were.
Let’s just leave it at that - we are the dumb slobs left to clean up the mess when our family and friends are misled about the state of reality by editors/journalists muddying reality...