Elon Musk’s SpaceX sets new record: 53 Starlink satellites launched into space
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, a spacecraft manufacturer, successfully completed a sea rocket landing while launching a large number of new Starlink Internet satellites into orbit. It is the program’s sixth launch in July alone, and the company’s 33rd launch of 2022. Let’s learn more about it!
About The Launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 53 Starlink satellites lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 3:21 p.m. EDT (19:21 GMT). Around nine minutes into the mission, the Falcon 9’s first stage returned to Earth for a vertical touchdown on the SpaceX drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas,” which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
It was the ninth launch and landing for this specific Falcon 9 first stage, according to a SpaceX mission description. The rocket’s upper stage eventually placed the 53 satellites into low Earth orbit, about 15 minutes after launch. This was confirmed by SpaceX on Twitter. SpaceX has already launched over 3,000 spacecraft for the Starlink constellation, which beams broadband connectivity to users all over the world.
Many of those satellites have been launched this year. SpaceX has conducted 37 orbital launches as of 2022, 23 of which were specific Starlink missions. The company’s previous record for the most orbital missions in a year was 31, set in 2021; this launch cadence breaks it.
A few hours before the most recent Starlink launch, a robotic Dragon cargo ship from SpaceX left the International Space Station. On August 20, the Dragon returned to Earth via an ocean splashdown.
Space Exploration Technologies Corp., headquartered in Hawthorne, California, is an American spacecraft manufacturer, space launch provider, and satellite communications corporation. Elon Musk founded it in 2002 with the goal of lowering space transportation costs in order to enable Mars colonisation. Liked this post? Don’t forget to check out our other short stories in our Quick Read section