 |
| SpaceX is launching a Falcon 9 rocket for the ninth time |
SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 rocket, equipped with the last 60 satellites and capable of putting Starlink into orbit, meaning that 180 satellites have been sent in the past two weeks alone.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 booster successfully returned to Earth, and boarded the "Of course I Still Love You" that landed on the Atlantic on board the ship.
This launch set a record for the Falcon 9 missile reuse program, which was the ninth flight and ninth landing of the first stage engine.
SpaceX said: For the ninth time, the new mission set a record for launching and landing a Falcon 9 booster missile in the first stage.
The booster has been used in a variety of missions, including five previous Starlink service launches and the company's Crew Dragon Demo-1 capsule. This is an unmanned test flight. It has been shown to operate as expected from launch to dock. The International Space Station, then return to Earth.
These satellites are part of the evolving Starlink constellation that StarX is building to provide internet connectivity to the rural areas of the planet.
As part of this project, the company was authorized to launch 12,000 satellites. To date, there are more than 1,000 satellites in orbit.
Starlink also has around 10,000 users in its beta plan, which started last year.
The Starlink router and antenna kit cost $ 499, and users with internet speeds between 70 and 130 Mbps pay $ 99 per month.
The company launched its first Starlink service apps in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom last month for a $ 99 registration fee.
The new launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center is SpaceX's second launch in recent days. The launch dropped additional Falcon 9 rockets into the sky from the Cape Canaveral space station on Thursday.
The launch put 60 satellites into orbit, and the next batch of Starlink satellites is expected to take off from the Cape Canaveral space station on March 21.
With these Starlink missions, the problem of missile reuse is especially important: While SpaceX insists that Internet services be available on a global scale, the frequency of these missions increases.