Friday, SpaceX successfully launched 53 Starlink broadband satellites into orbit utilizing a Falcon 9 rocket.
At 3:21 p.m. EST, the rocket launched off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
The flight marked the thirty-seventh orbital launch for this Falcon 9 rocket and the fifty-seventh Starlink launch, continuing Elon Musk’s company’s record-breaking launch frequency.
Even though there was a 50% chance of a weather violation, the launch occurred on a partly overcast day without issue.
This also marks the 130th landing of a Falcon 9 first stage and the 175th overall launch for SpaceX, two key milestones for Musk’s company’s pioneering of reusable, more economical rockets.
This mission’s first stage booster has previously launched GPS III Space Vehicles 04 and 05, Inspiration4, Ax-1, Nilesat 301, and three Starlink missions.
After delivering 53 Starlinks, the first stage of the rocket successfully landed on the ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ droneship in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
More than 3,000 satellites in the space-based internet satellite network provide high-speed, low-latency broadband to users in 38 different nations.
The Starlink network currently has more than 400 thousand subscribers globally and costs $110 per month plus a one-time equipment price of $599.
Falcon 9 is a reusable, two-stage rocket that has successfully flown humans and cargo into and beyond Earth’s orbit.
Musk’s goal to enable the colonization of Mars and the evolution of humanity into a multi-planet species is predicated on the accessibility and affordability of the technology. Plans call for SpaceX’s huge Starship rocket to transport large numbers of humans to and from Mars.
SpaceX expanded its Starlink internet service to include oceans, rivers, and lakes in July.
Starlink Maritime is currently accessible, and the company is targeting superyacht, oil rig, and merchant’s vessel owners as possible customers. The initial hardware expense for the service is $10,000 for two ‘ruggedized’ Starlink dishes, and the monthly cost will be $5,000.
Within two months of its activation in the war-torn country, the space company’s Starlink satellite internet service had approximately 150,000 daily users in Ukraine.
