Jan 14 (UPI) — Amid a thick plume of blazing flames, SpaceX announced the launch of two Falcon nine rockets Sunday night as part of an unmanned project to send more Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
Falcon nine will deploy a batch of 23 Starlink satellites.
The first rocket, on its eighteenth mission, lifted off around 1 a. m. m. (Pacific Time) from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara, California, after delays due to excessive weather.
The latest liftoff took place after another launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida was canceled on Saturday, but was successful at 8:54 p. m. On Sunday EST, the rocket will make its twelfth flight to carry another 23 web satellites.
The Falcon Nine booster rocket can carry payloads into space and then return to Earth and land upright on an ocean platform for later reuse.
So far, more than 5,300 satellites have been put into orbit, with the aim of ensuring connectivity anywhere in the world, even in the most remote places.
SspeedX is delivering satellites at an immediate speed after sending a Falcon 9 rocket into space every four days on average through 2023, though the operation has slowed somewhat in recent weeks when a rocket broke down during a project back to the East Coast. in December.
The green light from the Federal Communications Commission was seen as a monumental victory for the company, which was looking to expand its broadband network amid a developing festival of major players such as DISH and Amazon.
As the network grows, Musk’s Starlink has expanded its product over the past year and expanded its visitor base in industries such as residential, professional, RVs, boats, and airplanes.
Spaceflights to expand the satellite network accounted for about 60% of SpaceX’s total launches last year, while its other flights concerned launches to the International Space Station and the Artemis lunar mission.
SpaceX has set a goal of launching many satellites by 2024.