SpaceX Starlink
Launch Alert!
Update- SpaceX successfully launched and recovered the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket. Yesterday’s recovery was the first time that SpaceX recovered a booster for the fifth time. This will help pave the way to continued reusability of the Falcon 9 rocket. The 60 Starlink satellites have also been deployed. Congratulations to SpaceX on another successful mission, which launched a day before the first launch of the Falcon 9 in history.
SpaceX will launch the latest batch of 60 Starlink satellites on a Falcon 9 rocket later tonight. Liftoff is scheduled for 9:25 p.m. EST from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Once fully operational, the Starlink satellite constellation will provide low-cost, high-speed internet access on a global scale.
Today’s launch is the eighth Starlink mission overall, and the sixth of the year. The Falcon 9 first stage used in today’s launch will be launching for the fifth time; it previously supported Starlink, Iridium, and Telstar satellite launches.
Once completed, the Starlink constellation should consist of more than 12,000 satellites in Low Earth Orbit. Twelve thousand satellites is an unparalleled amount of spacecraft for a constellation, which poses a unique problem for orbital debris prevention. SpaceX notes that it designed…
