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SPACEX LAUNCHES 60 STARLINK SATELLITES.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX made history again by launching the first 60 satellites of its Starlink satellite internet mega constellation.
The satellites launched at 10:30 p.m. May 23 (02:30 GMT May 24), 2019, atop a Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft were deployed in orbit about an hour later.
Starlink is designed to provide high-speed, low-latency internet from space to entire planet, with a focus on areas with limited or no connectivity. While ultimately planned to include upward of 12,000 satellites, an initial operational constellation is expected to include just over 400 spacecraft, according to SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.
Musk said significant coverage would likely require 12 launches of 60 satellites. Each satellite is 500 pounds (227 kilograms).
However, while SpaceX said these first 60 spacecraft are production design, they a still testing a lot of new technology and future launches will hinge on how this first batch handles.
“There’s a lot of fundamental goodness about Starlink,” Musk said in a media teleconference on May 15. “We just want to make sure the appropriate caveats are there. There’s a lot of technology, this is very hard, and quite frankly in the past, the success of low-Earth orbit communications constellations, I believe none have successfully gone into operation without going bankrupt.”
“There’s a lot of fundamental goodness about Starlink,” Musk said in a media teleconference on May 15. “We just want to make sure the appropriate caveats are there. There’s a lot of technology, this is very hard, and quite frankly in the past, the success of low-Earth orbit communications constellations, I believe none have successfully gone into operation without going bankrupt.”
Indeed SpaceX appears to be taking all the time they need. The company first tried to launch the satellites atop a previously-flown Falcon 9 rocket on May 15. However, high upper level winds caused the attempt to be scrubbed within minutes of liftoff.
The next day, the company was expected to try again, but decided against it hours before the planned liftoff time in order to “update satellite software and triple-check everything again.”
This launch was the sixth SpaceX mission of 2019 and the fifth for a Falcon 9. Overall, the rocket design has flown 71 times since 2010. Since December 2015, a total of 40 first stage boosters have successfully landed, including those from Falcon Heavy missions.
SpaceX’s next Falcon 9 launch is set to send the three-satellite RADARSAT constellation into orbit for the Canadian Space Agency. It is slated to fly no earlier than June 11 from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Read More: https://www.spaceflightinsider.com/organizations/space-exploration-technologies/spacex-launches-60-starlink-satellites/