Science & Technology
Elon Musk’s SpaceX Deploys 60 Starlink Internet Satellites Into Orbit, Another Launch Planned Friday
The space exploration company has now deposited more than 1,000 Starlink satellites into orbit
Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully deployed 60 internet satellites into orbit early Thursday morning as company eyes another satellite launch for Friday.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket took flight through the Cape Canaveral sky at 1:19am EST Thursday morning in a mission to add to its constellation of internet providing Starlink satellites. The satellite constellation network is a part of Starlink’s objective of providing a high speed internet connection anywhere in the world.
The mission marked the fifth launch for the two-stage Falcon 9 and set a milestone for the quickest turnaround between missions for any SpaceX booster, having launched just 27 days ago.
Approximately nine minutes after launch, the rocket’s first stage propulsion engine returned smoothly to SpaceX’s autonomous spaceport drone ship named “Of Course I Still Love You” in the Atlantic Ocean.
The space exploration company has now deposited more than 1,000 Starlink satellites into orbit.
An additional 60 satellites are schedule for launch early Friday morning on a different Falcon 9 stationed at pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Friday launch was initially scheduled for Monday, Feb. 1 but had been grounded in anticipation for better weather conditions.
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