SpaceX launches first 60 of its internet ‘Starlink’ satellites
SPACEX has launched a rocket carrying the first 60 satellites of its “Starlink” constellation, which is intended to provide internet from space in an array that could one day contain over 12,000 orbiting transponders.
One of the company’s Falcon 9 rockets blasted off without incident from Cape Canaveral in Florida around 10:30pm on Thursday (8:30am on Friday in Cambodia).
An hour later, the rocket began to release t he satellites at an a lt itude of 450km.
The satellites then had to separate and use t heir t hrusters to ta ke up t hei r posit ions i n a relat ively low orbit of 550km.
“Successful deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed!”, the company said on its official Twitter account.
Their final orbit is slightly higher than the International Space Station, but well below the majority of terrestrial satellites – the highest of which are geostationary at 36,000km.
The launch was originally scheduled for last week, but was postponed – first because of high winds and then due to the need for a software update.
Billionaire Elon Musk’s firm, which is leading the private space race when it comes to rocket launches, is now looking to seize a chunk of the future space internet market.
“All 60 Starlink satellites online, solar array deployment coming up soon,” Musk tweeted after the disbursement.
The lau nch ma kes Sta rl i n k a n early forerunner of t he technolog y. Start-up OneWeb a lso has a foot in t he door, wel l a head of A mazon’s Project Kuiper, t he bra i nchi ld of Musk’s space riva l Jef f Bezos.
Each of the satellites weighs 227kg and was built in-house in Redmond, near Seatt le.
Starlink will become operational once 800 satellites have been activated, which will require a dozen more launches.
With so many units orbiting in the Starlink constellation, t he satellites have been desig ned to automat ically divert in the face of man-made or natura l space debris.
“This mission will push the operat iona l capabilities of t he satellites to t he limit,” t he company said in a statement.
“SpaceX expects to encounter issues along the way, but our learnings here are key to developing an affordable and reliable broadband service in the future.”
According to the company, SpaceX broadband internet should be accessible by devices such as mobile phones from anywhere on Earth at competitive pricing. It intends using profits to help fund Musk’s next stated aim – a mission to Mars.