Commercial spaceflight company SpaceX sure has had a busy year already, but they're not slowing down anytime soon. This Friday, June 26th at 4:18pm EDT, SpaceX is set to launch another batch of Starlink satellites ( approximately 58 ) along with a ride-sharing mission for Earth-observation company BlackSky.
SpaceX, so far, has launched 538 starlink satellites into orbit, making it the world's largest fleet of satellites. The company has FCC approval to operate 12,000 starlink satellites into low Earth orbit, so we can be expecting a Starlink launch every couple of weeks! Starlink is designed to deliver high speed, low latency, broadband internet to regions of the globe that do not normally have access to internet. SpaceX's goal is to have near global coverage by 2021. In addition,
SpaceX will be beginning limited regional service to North America by the end of 2020.
Each satellite weighs approximately 572lbs, with 4 powerful antennas on each one. The satellites do de-orbit when their life ends, however in the unlikely event that the satellites propulsion system become inoperable, the satellites will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere within 1-5 years. Hooray for no space junk! Customers can now sign up for Starlink notifications, so you can be in the now with all the latest Starlink news. You can sign up here: https://www.starlink
Meanwhile in low Earth orbit the International Space Station, where Astronauts Bob Behnken and Chris Cassidy will be conducting a 7 hour space walk. The walk began at 7:35am ET. This is commander Chris Cassidys 7th walk, and Bob Behnkens 8th. These spacewalks are the culmination of a series of power upgrades that began in January 2017. They are replacing the nickel-hydrogen batteries with new lithium ion batteries. You can watch their spacewalk live here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=21X5lGlDOfg
UPDATE: SpaceX has scrubbed from the 26th due to their team needing additional time for pre-launch checkouts, however Falcon 9 and the satellites are healthy. The new launch date is scheduled for July 8th at 12pm EDT. Stay tuned to Hover-Slam Space for more updates!
As always we will be providing live coverage of Wednesdays Starlink launch. For more Spaceflight news, content, and discussion, stay tuned right here to https://hoverslamspace.com/, and all of our social media pages!
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