A Falcon rocket has successfully launched another batch of 23 mini-satellites to replenish the orbital grouping of the Starlink global Internet coverage network, the SpaceX development company has announced.
“The launch of 23 Starlink satellites has been confirmed”, the company said in a statement.
The rocket was launched from the 40th launch complex at the US Space Force base at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Saturday at 22:17 US East Coast time (Sunday at 05:17 Kyiv time).
This is the 118th launch of Internet satellites since May 2019 as part of the Starlink project and the 49th since the beginning of this year. SpaceX has already launched more than 5.3 thousand such satellites into orbit. Some of them have failed or left the orbit. Almost 5 thousand vehicles remain in orbit in working condition.
As part of the launch, the first reusable stage of the launch vehicle, which was used for the fourth time, made a controlled vertical landing on the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone platform in the Atlantic after separation.
The company is now the largest satellite operator in the world. Starlink’s Internet network is available to users in 62 countries, including North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. According to the Pentagon, the US military is also actively using the services of these satellites.
In the future, SpaceX plans to deploy an orbital grouping of 12 thousand spacecraft (and later – 30 thousand) to create a full-scale network that will provide the world’s inhabitants with broadband Internet access anywhere in the world. The total investment in the project is estimated at $10 billion.
Falcon 9 rocket on Monday launches into orbit with the next batch of 51 mini-satellites to replenish the orbital constellation of the global network of Internet coverage system Starlink, the developer company SpaceX said.
The launch is scheduled from the launch pad SLC-4E at the U.S. Space Force base Vandenberg in California on February 27 at 11:31 a.m. Pacific time (9:31 p.m. Kiev time).
It will be the 75th launch of Internet satellites since May 2019 as part of the Starlink project and the seventh since the beginning of this year. SpaceX has already put into orbit almost 4 thousand such satellites. Some of them have broken down or fallen out of orbit. About 3,700 apparatuses remain in orbit in working condition.
In this case, the first reusable stage launch vehicle Falcon 9, which is used for the 12th time, about nine minutes after the launch will have to make a controlled vertical landing on a floating drone platform Of Course I Still Love You, which is located in the Pacific Ocean, 670 km from the base.
