SpaceX sticks to its word and intent of providing broadband internet access for as many regions across the planet as possible. The final goal is that all humanity will be online, and many Starlink satellites are needed for that. Another lot of 60 such satellites was sent into space yesterday, on November 24.
The event also marked the 60th flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, and another reason to add faith in the plans of SpaceX.
New record for the rocket reuse program of SpaceX
The launch also set a new record, as for the first time in history, a reusable Falcon 9 booster completed its seventh trip to outer space and back. The lift-off took place from the Cape Canaveral Air force Station at 9:13:12 p.m. EST Tuesday (0213:12 GMT Wednesday). The launcher was 70 meters tall.
Flying some 140 miles over the North Atlantic, 60 new Starlink internet satellites have deployed from the upper stage of SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket.
This brings the total number of Starlinks launched since May 2019 to 955.https://t.co/5fFiWvJxb4 pic.twitter.com/f2DHahj1j1
— Spaceflight Now (@SpaceflightNow) November 25, 2020
According to the official Twitter account of SpaceX, the download speeds of what the Starlink satellites are offering are about 100 megabytes per second. SpaceX doesn’t seem to rest one bit, as the agency declared that it’s building 120 satellites each month.
Beta testing phase for the Starlink network
SpaceX also reveals that its Starlink network has already entered a beta testing phase in some U.S. states and Canada. As cited from the company’s website:
Last month, SpaceX launched its “Better Than Nothing Beta” test program,
Service invites were sent to a portion of those who requested availability updates on Starlink.com and who live in serviceable areas. A couple weeks ago, Canada granted Starlink regulatory approval and last week SpaceX rolled out the service to parts of parts of southern Canada.
SpaceX wants to send at least 12,000 Starlink satellites into orbit, and there’s even a possible extension to 40,000 units. Some scientists are concerned that too many satellites orbiting the Earth could jeopardize the opportunities of space exploration. However, CEO Elon Musk assures people that it won’t be the case.
