SpaceX Closes Out Triple-Launch Week With Starlink Mission
SpaceX launches 49 Starlink satellites from Kennedy Space Center on Feb. 3. Screenshot via SpaceX/YouTube
SpaceX launched a batch of 49 Starlink satellites on Thursday afternoon in its third launch of the week.
Thursday’s Starlink launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida followed the COSMO-SkyMed launch for the Italian government from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Tuesday, and the NROL-87 mission for the National Reconnaissance Office from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on Wednesday.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched 49 Starlink satellites to Low-Earth Orbit, taking off at 1:13 p.m. ET. The satellites were deployed about 15 minutes after liftoff, and SpaceX confirmed successful payload deployment after the launch. The first stage booster was successfully recovered on a droneship.
This was the third launch of 2022 for Starlink, a constellation of satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) that provides broadband internet service in areas with unreliable or unavailable terrestrial service.
Starlink is sold direct-to-consumer and just this week, SpaceX began taking pre-orders for Starlink Premium, a Starlink service geared toward businesses and high demand users. Starlink Premium is expected to provide download speeds of 150 to 500 Mbps and latency of 20 to 40 ms, and it service costs $500 per month, with a $2,500 charge for the user terminal.
COSMO-SkyMed, launched Tuesday, is the second satellite of the second generation constellation, built by Thales Alenia Space. It is a project of the Italian Space Agency and the Italian Defense Ministry and offers synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imaging.
NROL-87, launched Wednesday, is a classified payload to support the NRO’s reconnaissance mission. The office said the mission will support its ability to provide timely intelligence information for national security.
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