June 23 (UPI) — SpaceX has introduced a pair of Falcon 9 rockets with a total of 42 Starlink satellites into low-Earth orbit.
The reusable booster of the first tier returned to the A Shortfall of Gravitas drone in the Atlantic Ocean about 8 minutes after launch. This is the rocket booster’s eleventh flight and the 75th time the drone has been used to retrieve a top-tier booster.
This is SpaceX’s 65th project of the year, and the company is on track to complete 148 projects, eclipsing last year’s total of 98.
This is SpaceX’s 348th Falcon mission, and the company will provide internet services to 3 million people when all of its satellites are deployed.
Nine operational Merlin engines and nine Falcon engines despega!pic. twitter. com/mEpxbmxfPG— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 23, 2024
Its payload of 20 satellites included thirteen satellites with Direct to Cell capabilities. SpaceX used its Of Course I Still Love You drone to retrieve the top-tier booster rocket from the Pacific Ocean.
A Starlink satellite has a lifespan of about five years, and SpaceX expects to launch up to 42,000 satellites. He asked permission to throw more.
SpaceX is expected to launch a geostationary satellite from Cape Canaveral on Monday, weather permitting. It will be the newest in a series of geostationary satellite launches, about 23,000 miles above Earth and working with other geostationary arrays to cover the planet’s surface with a signal through a procedure known as “triangulation. “This publication has been delayed since April.