SpaceX Falcon 9 Will Launch Tonight To Deploy 60 Satellites For The “Starlink” Mega-Constellation
On May 15th, the entire world can witness the SpaceX launching a multitude of internet satellites in space since the event will be broadcasted live. Individuals from all around the world can watch the liftoff of a two-stage SpaceX Falcon 9 which will carry the first 60 space satellites of the “Starlink” mega-constellation. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket will leave ground today at 10:30 PM Eastern Daylight Time.
The event will take place at Florida’s Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and will be available for individuals to watch in real time on various platforms.
Elon Musk’s Tweet Giving Us Insight About the Mission
Elon Musk, the funder and the CEO of SpaceX, revealed, in a Twitter post this weekend, a photo that showed the payload fairing of the SpaceX Falcon 9 almost filled by the 60 spacecraft that were strategically loaded in such way so that can fit the tight space. In the same post, Elon Musk included a picture of its battery electric vehicle sports car that seems really small inside its fairing, back in February 2018 before the launching of the first test flight of Falcon Heavy spacecraft.
Tintin A and Tintin B are the Starlink designed models that were launched roughly 14 days after the Falcon Heavy missions, and they were intended to be back-up payloads on a Falcon 9 mission. However, the space crafts that are yet to be launched tonight are, as Elon Musk himself stated, ” production-designed.”
SpaceX Falcon 9 Will Deploy 60 internet satellites in space tonight
If everything goes as expected, the lofting planned for tonight will only be the first step of a much more elaborated mission. SpaceX claims that the bigger plan is to send a number of 12,000 satellites for the constellation concerned to provide an accessible internet connection to individuals from all across the globe.
To achieve “minor coverage” a number of 6 additional similar missions have to be set in motion, and after that, 6 more spacecraft packed up with 60 satellites each shall be launched in space to obtain “moderate coverage.” Other companies have similar projects regarding internet space satellites ongoing, such as OneWeb and Blue Origin mission that plans to create a similar independent mega-constellation.
Doris’s passion for writing started to take shape in college where she was editor-in-chief of the college newspaper. Even though she ended up working in IT for more than 7 years, she’s now back to what he always enjoyed doing. With a true passion for technology, Doris mostly covers tech-related topics.
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