At exactly 7.29 a.m. EDT, SpaceX launched its Falcon 9 Rocket to the orbit. The rocket had 60 Starlink satellites, which would tally to about 700 once landed in space. This would mark another milestone for SpaceX as it was the 17th mission the organization has had in 2020. The launch isn’t your usual launch as a previous attempt had to be postponed due to bad weather. That was the reason this particular launch was taken seriously and appreciated even more. It took the rocket around 9 minutes to deliver the satellites and land back on SpaceX’s ship on the Atlantic.
The first launch attempt was made on Sep 17 but would be abandoned due to unavoidable circumstances. A fortnight later, another attempt was made but again couldn’t go through. This was the fourth time this was happening as three previous attempts made on Sep 28, Oct 1, and Oct 5 both failed.
The $36 Million worth company is now proud to have completed 13 batches of Starlink satellite launches since its first launch. The launch coincided with the World Space week 2020, making it attract world attention. The Elon Musk led company saw the rocket go up and back down at an impressive nine-minute time span. It made a remarkable landing on SpaceX’s drone ship which had been eagerly waiting for the rocket.
Of Course I Still Love You …
The drone ship is popularly known as Of Course I Still Love You and is responsible for providing landing surfaces for SpaceX’s landing boosters and returning drones. For instance, the drone ship has had a busy year providing a platform for returning rocket boosters.
According to Space.com, the B1058 flier which went to space and back in an impressive nine minutes is one of the latest of SpaceX recent additions to its fleet. Apparently, the flier is frequently used as it is known to be among the best SpaceX has.
Eyes on the Prize !
Musk and his team have their eyes fixed on the prize. The goal is to increase the worldwide coverage of high-speed internet. To achieve this, enough satellites have to be deployed to the space to facilitate the same. Clearly, this vision is closer than ever if the SpaceX team continues with the same momentum with which it is launching these projects.
You need permission from the Federal Communications Commission to operate freely on space. They authorize on the number of satellites one can launch on orbit. According to reports, Musk’s company is authorized to launch about 12,000 satellites. At the moment, the number of space capsules released into space is headed to 1000 although the initial target was close to 1500 satellites.
SpaceX CEO had indicated they need about 800 satellites to start operations. In addition to the space satellites, there are plans to increase the number of stations here on earth and landing platforms on the sea. The latter would enable increased landing of fliers.
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