SpaceX put dozens of satellites into orbit in one day | Science and Ecology | DW

SpaceX, owned by businessman Elon Musk, put another 60 satellites into orbit Thursday for its internet network Starlink, which already has more than a thousand, to which 60 more will be added on Friday if the launch is successful.

A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket blasted off Cape Canaveral, Florida early today (6:19 GMT) with the satellite at its tip, and after about nine minutes, the spacecraft’s first stage gently landed over the “Of Course I Still” platform. I love you “is located in the Atlantic Ocean about 400 miles (630 km) from the coast.

Falcon 9 launch

This is SpaceX’s fourth launch so far in 2021 and the thirteenth in the Starlink series.

It is also the fifth time that the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, which was used for the last time 27 days ago, is a record in SpaceX’s calculations.

So far the mark has been 38 days between two missions.

When completed, the Starlink network will consist of 1,440 satellites.

Since 2010, 107 Falcon 9 rockets have been launched from Elon Musk, which also owns Tesla electric vehicles, and NASA’s partner in the program to send astronauts to the International Space Station in a commercial spacecraft from US soil.

It is scheduled to launch tomorrow at 5:14 am (10:14 GMT).

The two missions were originally scheduled to leave today by less than five hours, but on Wednesday SpaceX announced that it would delay one of them until Friday to allow more time for pre-flight checks.

EL (efe)