SpaceX launched the latest installment of the Starlink
satellite network as planned at 9:06 a.m. EST on Wednesday into a sunny but
cool Florida winter sky.
The Falcon 9 rocket carried 60 more Starlink spacecraft into orbit, the
fourth time for such a feat. The mission lifted off from Launch Complex 40 at
Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, about 8 miles northeast of the Kennedy Space
Center Visitor Complex.
"We just had a nominal liftoff of our Falcon 9 vehicle carrying our
Starlink payload on its way to its targeted orbit," SpaceX engineer Lauren
Lyons said in a live broadcast.
The company had experienced a few delays in recent weeks because of
weather concerns, and strong high-altitude winds forced a postponement of the
launch on Monday morning. Rough seas in the recovery zone caused another
schedule slip Tuesday, SpaceX said.
Earlier in January, SpaceX delayed a test launch of its Crew Dragon
capsule because of high seas in the spacecraft's landing zone.
If all continues on track for the constellation, 100 or more such Starlink
launches could occur in the future. SpaceX intends ultimately to launch
thousands of satellites to beam broadband around the globe.
SpaceX has 182 of its large dinner table-size satellites in orbit, each
weighing over 500 pounds. When they reach space, they extend a large solar
panel for power. The space firm previously launched 60 Starlink satellites at a
time in May, November and on Jan. 6, with two test satellites launched before
that.
The company has faced concerns from astronomers and other stargazers who
have seen satellites shining brightly in the night sky. Astronomy groups have
posted images showing how the satellites interrupted photos or space object
observations.
The launch earlier in January carried one spacecraft, a so-called
"Dark Sat," that had an experimental coating to make it less
reflective and less visible to stargazers.
The results of that experiment haven't been announced. SpaceX's Starlink
mission descriptions say satellites take months to reach their proper orbit, so
judging the effectiveness of the experiment will take a while. In the meantime,
SpaceX continues launching Starlink.
Wednesday's payload rode atop a first-stage booster that previously
carried a Crew Dragon capsule on its first demonstration mission in March 2019
and a satellite mission in June 2019.
SpaceX recovered the first stage again by landing it on a barge in the
Atlantic Ocean. The company was also set to recover the rocket nose cone's
halves in the ocean about 45 minutes after launch.
Starlink satellites orbit at a height of about 340 miles above the Earth.
By comparison, the Kármán line that defines space is 62 miles high, and the
International Space Station is more than 250 miles high.
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