November 13th, 2019 - The morning of November 11, 2019, Space X fans and Aerospace enthusiasts on Florida's space coast were treated to a crystal clear view of StarLink-1 and Falcon 9 lifting off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral. This mission, Space X's 10th of 2019, marks several new milestones for the company. The Falcon 9 first stage which supported this mission, Booster B1048, is for the first time, 4 times re-flown, and will be undergoing preparations for an upcoming 5th flight. The 17 meter fairings used, are the first re-flown fairings by Space X, having previously supported the Falcon Heavy Arabsat-6A mission this past April. And perhaps most significantly, StarLink-1 marked the first operational deployment of Space X's broadband satellite internet constellation, which seeks to provide FREE global high-speed internet to consumers around the globe. This launch follows the StarLink demonstration mission launched in May of 2019, which put 60 prototype StarLink satellites into Low Earth Orbit, and provided experimental data to Space X teams on the ground. Surprisingly, on October 21st, Space X CEO and Chief Engineer Elon Musk, tweeted " Sending this tweet through space via Starlink satellite", demonstrating the connectivity capabilities of the prototypes. Following this weeks deployment of 60 more operational satellites, Space X plans to launch multiple StarLink missions per month, with an overall goal of 12,000 satellites in Low Earth Orbit by 2027.
Comments