CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION, Fla. – SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 29 more Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit on Wednesday.
This mission was the fifth flight for the first-stage booster supporting this mission, SpaceX said on its website.
What we know:
The satellites were to be deployed just over an hour into the mission.
The launch took place around 8:24 p.m., from Central Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Who is SpaceX?
The backstory:
SpaceX, founded by billionaire Elon Musk, started in 2002 to create powerful, fully reusable launch vehicles. SpaceX rockets can withstand reentry and land back on Earth to re-fly again.
They hope to become capable of carrying humans to Mars and other destinations in the solar system. In 2020, SpaceX was the first private company to transport people to the International Space Station.
The company has completed 565 missions, 525 landings and 490 relights, its website said.
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launched 29 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit today at 12:35 p.m., from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
What is Starlink?
With a goal of providing high-speed Internet around the world, Starlink aims to provide connectivity for streaming, video calls, gaming and remote working anywhere in the world – including remote locations.
Residential services start at $59 a month, until Oct. 29 and then return to a base price of $80 a month, Starlink’s website said. Now, over 7 million people across 150 countries, territories and markets are connected with Starlink, a SpaceX post said.
According to Space.com, SpaceX currently has 8,475 Starlink satellites in orbit – with a goal of having a total of 42,000 in orbit. Each satellite has a lifespan of five years.
The Source: Information in this story was sourced by SpaceX.