SpaceX reached another milestone today after it Falcon 9 successfully launched 60 Starlink satellites. In a tweet, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, “Once these satellites reach their target position, we will be able to roll out a fairly wide public beta in the northern US & hopefully southern Canada. Other countries to follow as soon as we receive regulatory approval.”
Below are Twitter videos of the launch.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/Jpkeiw9dIn
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 6, 2020
Watch Falcon 9 launch 60 Starlink satellites https://t.co/KIKprKYswQ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 6, 2020
Below is an image of how Falcon 9 is launched and landed.
Falcon 9, the world’s first orbital-class reusable rocket, is manufactured and operated by SpaceX for the reliable and safe transport of people and payloads to Earth orbit and beyond. It is powered by Merlin engines, also developed by SpaceX, burning cryogenic liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene (RP-1) as propellants.
Starlink is a satellite constellation developed by SpaceX to provide satellite Internet access. The constellation will consist of thousands of mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO), working in combination with ground transceivers. SpaceX also plans to sell some of the satellites for military,[6] scientific, or exploratory purposes. The SpaceX satellite development facility in Redmond, Washington houses the Starlink research, development, manufacturing, and on-orbit control operations. The total cost of the decade-long project to design, build, and deploy the constellation was estimated by SpaceX in May 2018 to be about US$10 billion.
