CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX will launch its next series of Starlink satellites on Thursday (February 4) as part of a possible double launch of the launch that will further expand the company’s satellite internet fleet, and you can watch the action live online.
The Hawthorne, California-based company plans to launch a back-to-back Starlink mission, with two groups of 60 Starlink Internet satellites on two different Falcon 9 rockets.
The first mission is scheduled to take off from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station Thursday at 01:19 EST (0619 GMT), followed by a second of NASA’s historic path 39A here at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, just over 24 hours later Friday at 05:14 EDT (1014 GMT) – if everything goes as planned.
You can watch the launch here live and on the Space.com homepage, courtesy of SpaceX, about 15 minutes before the setup begins. You can also watch the launch directly via SpaceX.
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SpaceX is off to a fast start this year, as Thursday’s launch will be the fourth (and possibly fifth) of the year for the private space company. The company relied heavily on its fleet of proven rockets and as such could get a record of land in 2020. Two of the flights were space missions to the International Space Station, which was the first for a commercial company. and the first human missions launched from Florida since the launch of the spacecraft program in 2011.
This year, the company has even bigger ambitions; he plans to launch 40 rockets between the launch sites in California and Florida.
SpaceX will use its two drone ships on Thursday – “Of course I still like you” and “Just read the instructions” – as the company hopes to catch both amplifiers. If successful, the landing will mark the 74th and 75th recovery for SpaceX since the company landed its first amplifier in 2015.
The booster known as B1059, on its fifth flight, is on the launch pad for the first time. This first phase previously transported two different SpaceX Dragon cargo mission to the International Space Station as part of NASA’s CRS-19 and CRS-20 flights, an Earth observation satellite for Argentina (SAOCOM-1B in August 2020), followed by a spy satellite for the U.S. government as part of the NROL-108 mission in December. Thursday’s flight will be the second Starlink payload to carry this particular booster.
Next will fly eight more times. This booster, known as B1049, became the first in SpaceX’s fleet to fly seven times and is the second to attempt eight launches and landings. To date, it has hoisted a Telstar communications satellite in September 2018, followed by an Iridium NEXT satellite in January 2019, and then four different Starlink missions.
Its counterpart, B1051, recently became the first booster in SpaceX’s fleet to become a kite eight times. The booster recently sailed back to port after embarking on its record-setting mission on January 20th. SpaceX has designed its Block 5 Falcon 9 variant to fly at least ten times with minimal flights between flights. Although the company has not yet achieved this, these two amplifiers could potentially achieve this this year.
Related: Watch the evolution of SpaceX’s rockets in pictures
SpaceX has created its Starlink Internet program to connect users around the world and provide reliable and affordable Internet service, primarily to remote and rural areas. The company does this using a small user terminal that is no larger than a laptop. SpaceX planned to contain its original Starlink constellation 1440 of the flat-panel Internet ray satellites.
The company’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, had earlier said the company needed at least a few hundred orbits before it could start rolling out the service. Thursday’s launch will put the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit at more than 1,000, including the first ten orbiting the orbit around the pole. These satellites went off on January 24 as part of an attempt to share.
Transporter-1, called Transporter-1, included 143 small satellites, which are the most satellites that have carried one rocket into space so far. Ten of these were SpaceX’s own Starlink satellites. This group of spacecraft is bound for a polar orbit, and will help the company provide coverage to high latitude regions.
An extensive Starlink beta testing phase on the Internet, called ‘Better than nothing’, is well underway, and the company recently expanded the program to customers in the UK, thanks to the approval of telecommunications regulator Ofcom.
The company also picked up its first Canadian customer, the Pikangikum First Nation booking. The satellite internet service has helped the community connect with health and education services and more.
Related: SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites and lands rocket in dazzling night parade
Flight milestone
If all goes according to plan, the rugby launches will mark the 105th and 106th flights in general for the 229-foot (70-meter) two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, as well as the 53rd and 54th reflights of the work barrier rocket since the company began in 2015 to to restore boosts.
For the past five years, the company has recovered its recovery efforts, while continuing to prove the reliability of Falcon 9. The reuse of rocket amplifiers has now become commonplace for SpaceX and has allowed the company to launch its rockets at a record pace. In 2020, the Falcon 9 became the most launched rocket of all time when it was launched on its 84th flight – a record held by the Atlas V rocket from United Launch Alliance.
With the company’s latest flight, the Transporter 1 mission on January 24, the Block 5 Falcon 9 variant also surpassed the 85-fly mark, after being successfully launched 86 times.
To date, SpaceX has successfully landed its first phase boosters 73 times. This is due to the company’s two drone ship landing platforms – “Of course I like you” and “Just read the instructions.” The dynamic duo enables SpaceX to send (and land) more rockets. SpaceX has two recovery enhancement options: on a drone or at one of its landing zones. Because the ships are mobile and can be positioned in the ocean, it takes less fuel than when the booster returns to the Cape. Of the more than 70 booster landings, only 21 were on terra firma, and the rest on one of the two drones.
Related: Why SpaceX’s Starlink satellites caught astronomers off guard
Thursday’s flights may be the first time SpaceX has launched two rockets on the same day from the two Florida-based launch pads. This is due in part to weather-related delays. The Starlink 17 mission, launched on B1049, was originally planned for January 30, but was pushed back a few days to improve weather conditions in the recovery zone.
The Starlink 18 mission, which was scheduled to depart from Cape Canaveral space station on Thursday at 01:19 EST (0619 GMT), will now be launched less than 28 hours earlier due to the weather delay and the need for more prelaunch pay points.
Since SpaceX relies on its fleet of regular kites, the company wants to make sure it can successfully repair the returning booster on one of its drones. Both ships were deployed to two different landing zones for two missions.
SpaceX will attempt to retrieve the casing pieces (the two halves of the protective “nose cone” on the top stage of the rocket) from each of these launches. The company has achieved a lot of success by creating the protective garment out of the water and even catching the falling pieces using two just-equipped boats – named GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief.
Usually the team decides whether to catch or create the disc halves on the day of launch. And the recovery efforts take place about 45 minutes after the removal.
At the moment, the weather is 90% of the two launch opportunities, and the only weather is the possibility of a strong wind taking place at the launch site. There is a backup launch period for each mission should this be necessary.
The team continues to monitor the weather in the recovery zone to ensure that the recovery efforts will be successful.
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