Another day, another satellite launch. SpaceX is one busy group.
Elon Musk’s company launched another 60 Starlink satellites on Wednesday, keeping its pace of launches into low Earth orbit. If you’re counting, that’s 300 Starlink satellites up, up and away just since March 4 via five flights.
“Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station carrying our stack of Starling satellites to orbit,” SpaceX engineer Jessie Anderson said during a live broadcast on Wednesday.
“The weather again is looking beautiful, clear skies with an amazing view of Falcon.”
SpaceX has 1,200 Starlink satellites now in orbit with the aim to bring broadband internet worldwide. Starlink broadband is running tests that began in October in North America, and has expanded into Canada and parts of the United Kingdom.
The internet package is $99 per month plus hardware.
As for the rocket launch, recycling continues to be part of the SpaceX routine.
The first-stage booster for the rocket was recovered by landing it on the SpaceX droneship named Of Course I Love You, situated in the Atlantic Ocean.
That booster was executing its seventh mission, including the launch that took NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station in May.
“What an amazing view of that stage one landing burn we got our cameras back just in time for that,” Youmei Zhou, a SpaceX propulsion engineer, said during the broadcast. “And this marks our 79th successful recovery of an orbital class rocket, and the seventh recovery of this booster.”
The satellites behaved well, settling into their orbit.
“Shortly, they will deploy their solar array, and over the next few days and weeks, they will distance themselves from each other and use their onboard ion thrusters to make their way to their operational orbit,” Anderson said.
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