SpaceX has successfully launched another batch of Starlink satellites into orbit.
On Sunday, at 10:41 p.m. ET, one of the Elon Musk-owned company’s Falcon 9 rockets launched from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, carrying with it 22 satellites into low-Earth orbit. It’s the latest addition to SpaceX’s satellite internet service, which the company claims has 1.5 million users so far.
After separating from its haul, the booster landed neatly in the Atlantic Ocean on SpaceX’s droneship, A Shortfall of Gravitas.
It’s the fourth launch for this particular Falcon 9 rocket this year, including one other Starlink mission, the launch of the SES O3b mPOWER commercial communications satellite system in April, and NASA’s Crew-6 mission in March.
You can watch Sunday’s Starlink launch below:
Notably, it’s not a huge number of satellites, when you look at the big picture. As of July 2023, there were 4,519 Starlink satellites in orbit, of which 4,487 are operational. Sunday’s launch brings the total to 4,541 zooming around the planet, promising to bring internet speeds of 100-230 Mbps to users and getting faster every year.
But with thousands of satellites entering low-Earth orbit, and not just from SpaceX, there’s the serious and ongoing issue of space junk to consider, the unregulated by-product of such launches. Not all Starlink satellites have remained in orbit, either, as some re-entering Earth’s atmosphere have burned up.
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