SpaceX

SpaceX launches 52 internet-beaming Starlink satellites to orbit from California

Today, Friday, March 17, SpaceX launched 52 internet-beaming Starlink satellites to orbit from California. A flight-proven Falcon 9 lifted off at 12:26 p.m. PT from Space Launch Complex 4 East (SLC-4E) at the Vandenberg Space Force Base. SpaceX is arranging the Starlink broadband constellation in Low Earth Orbit in groups that have different orbital parameters referred to as 'shells.' This mission is called ‘Starlink Group 2-8’ which is the sixth launch to deploy a fleet of satellites into the ‘Shell 2’ of the Starlink constellation. In Shell 2, the 52 Starlink satellites will operate at an orbital altitude of around 570 kilometers at an inclination of 70.0 degrees to Earth’s equator. 

 

 

Soon after Falcon 9’s upper-stage was released to orbit with the 52 Starlink Group 2-8 satellites, the first-stage booster returned to land on SpaceX’s ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ droneship which was stationed in the Pacific Ocean. The booster that supported this mission is identified as B1071-8 which has now been reused and recovered eight times. It previously launched: the U.S. National Reconnaissance Office NROL-87 and NROL-85 missions, Germany’s SARah-1, NASA’s SWOT orbiting observatory, and now three Starlink missions. To date, SpaceX has landed orbital-class rockets 178 times and reused recovered boosters 150 times. Reusability has enabled SpaceX to reduce the cost of launching payload to orbit which enables it to perform frequent missions to space.

 

 

The fleet of 52 Starlink satellites was deployed to Low Earth Orbit (LEO) approximately 15.5 minutes after liftoff. With this deployment SpaceX has now launched a total of 4,053 Starlink satellites to orbit. However, Astronomer Jonathan McDowell has tracked the satellites since 2019 and dozens of satellites have been deorbited over the years due to varying reasons. According to McDowell’s data, 3,803 Starlink satellites remain in orbit as of today. When satellites are no longer useful, SpaceX says that the satellite completely burns in Earth’s atmosphere which prevents space debris. The Starlink constellation could ultimately have at least 12,000 satellites to be deployed in the coming years to provide internet globally. Visit SpaceX’s official Starlink.com website for more information.

》 Author's note: Thanks for reading Tesmanian.com. If you have any story suggestions or feedback, feel free to Direct Message me on Twitter: Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo @JaneidyEve Or write your thoughts in the comment section below. Read my most recent stories here: Recent News Stories 《 

 Featured Image Source: SpaceX Live Mission Broadcast

About the Author

Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo

Evelyn Janeidy Arevalo

Evelyn J. Arevalo joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover news as a Space Journalist and SpaceX Starbase Texas Correspondent. Evelyn is specialized in rocketry and space exploration. The main topics she covers are SpaceX and NASA.

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