Kane Dane
Space x has launched 60 more Starlink Satellites and now there are a total of 422 Starlink satellite
SpaceX is already the largest private satellite operator in existence, by a wide and growing margin. It has managed to keep a steady pace of its StarLink launch despite the global crisis of COVID-19, with its final launch starting on March 18. In total, it has launched four such missions, 2024, in just four months from the start of the year.
The company has good reason to maintain that aggressive momentum:
Each launch brings it closer to the final launch of the Starlink broadband service that will provide the backbone to the satellite network. SpaceX wants the network to live with coverage available in Canada and North America by the end of this year, and the way its approach works, with its smaller satellites much closer to Earth than traditional Internet geospatial satellites. It surrounded and delivered the Connection. When they traverse the coverage area, they are absolutely necessary to provide a stable, reliable, low-latency connection for consumers and businesses.
Starlink aims to expand its customer service worldwide next year, which will require even more launches and much larger constellations. Ultimately, the company has released documents that claim 12,000 to 42,000 small satellites can be launched that can bring the network to its end state based on demand and performance.
Elon Musk, CEO and founder of Space X
Detailed some of the steps the company is taking to address complaints that its StarLink satellites are interfering with ground observations of the night sky.
Today’s launch also included a recovery effort for the used Falcon 9 booster rocket, which flew on SpaceX’s Demo-1 Crew Dragon mission, as well as twice in 2019. Falcon 9 landed in the Atlantic Ocean as planned. by SpaceX’s unmanned spacecraft. The Falcons are expected to re-form after a pair of 9 booster landings to return earlier this year.
Space X will also attempt to repair the parts of the fairing used to protect StarLink satellite cargo during launch, though not using a net to hold them back to Earth from parachutes due to a system update. Instead, it will seek to get them out of the water, and we will update this post with the results when SpaceX makes them available. The company is looking to use fairings frequently, and the net capture process makes it easy to restore them for additional use. This is another cost-saving measure as SpaceX strives to reuse the entire launch vehicle with its Starship spacecraft, which is now in development.
