[ad_1]
CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – Spacex will release its first batch of Starlink satellites in 2021 on Monday (January 18) to expand the company’s growing mega-constellation and you can watch the action live online.
The Hawthorne, California-based company will install 60 Starlink Internet satellites on its workhorse. Falcon 9 rocket from historic NASA Pad 39A here at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:45 am EDT (1422 GMT).
You can watch the launch live here and on the Space.com home page, courtesy of SpaceX, beginning about 15 minutes before lift-off. You also can watch the launch straight through SpaceX.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink satellite mega-constellation launches in photos
SpaceX already has a launch under its belt this year and is looking to pick up the pace. 2020 was an exceptional year for the private space flight company, which included two different astronaut missions to the International Space Station, the first for a commercial company.
It was also the company’s busiest launch year to date, with a record 26 flights, breaking the previous record of 18 set in 2018. This year SpaceX has even bigger ambitions, as the company plans to launch 40 rockets among its California and Florida launch sites. .
After liftoff on Monday, the first stage of the Falcon 9 is expected to land on SpaceX’s “Just Read the Instructions” drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean. (SpaceX’s flagship drone ship, “Of course I still love you,” is under maintenance before it is back in service after a busy year.) If successful, the landing will mark the 72nd recovery of a first-stage booster for the California-based rocket. maker.
The rocket featured at this launch will be another record-setting push. Known as the B1051, this flight-tested propellant will embark on its eighth flight, the first in SpaceX’s fleet to do so. It will also mark one of SpaceX’s shortest response times between flights, as the latter flew just over a month ago.
To date, B1051 has carried a variety of payloads, including an unmanned Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station as part of a 2019 flight test, followed by a trio of Earth observation satellites for Canada, as well as four different Starlink missions. Most recently, he was carrying a weight of 15,432 pounds. (7,000 kilograms) satellite in orbit for Sirius XM, which will stream content to Sirius subscribers in the US, Canada and the Caribbean.
Related: See the evolution of SpaceX rockets in pictures
SpaceX created its Starlink Internet program to connect users around the world and provide reliable and affordable Internet service, primarily in rural and remote areas. By using a small terminal (no bigger than a laptop), users on the ground will be able to connect to the ever-growing network. Founder and CEO of SpaceX Elon musk it has said the company needs to launch between 500 and 800 satellites to begin implementing the service.
To date, SpaceX has put more than 1,000 of the Internet-transmitting satellites into orbit in an effort to complete its initial planned constellation of 1,440 spacecraft. SpaceX has already started beta testing its space-based internet service, and the initial testing phase has shown the service to be reliable.
The phase is going so well that SpaceX has even started offering users in the UK to help out with beta testing. The company received a license to start operating in the UK last year, thanks to local telecoms regulator Ofcom.
Related: SpaceX launches 60 Starlink satellites in dazzling night liftoff
Flight milestones
Monday’s launch marks Flight 102 overall for the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, SpaceX’s workhorse, as well as the 51 ebb of a Falcon 9 rocket since the company began recovering thrusters in 2015.
Over the past five years, the company has honed its recovery efforts, while continuing to demonstrate the reliability of the Falcon 9. Flying previously flown thrusters has now become commonplace for SpaceX and has allowed the company to launch its rockets at a rate record.
To date, SpaceX has successfully landed its first stage thrusters 71 times. Now that the company has two fully operational drone boat landing pads – “Of course I still love you” and “Just read the instructions” – in Florida, it can launch (and land) more rockets. The newest drone ship on the block, “Just Read Instructions,” is already in the recovery zone waiting for its turn to catch the B1051 when it returns to Earth on Monday.
Related: Why SpaceX’s Starlink satellites caught astronomers off guard
Falling fairings
SpaceX is expected to continue its tradition of reclaiming the Falcon 9’s payload fairing, or nose cone, on this flight. The company has two net-equipped boats, called GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief – that you use to hook the fairings as they fall back to Earth in two pieces.
Each piece of the shell-like hardware, which costs approximately $ 6 million combined, is equipped with software that takes you to the recovery zone and a parachute system that allows them to land softly in the ocean or on GO’s extended network. Ms. Tree and Wow Mrs. Boss.
Ships can also pull the fairings out of the water, as taking a capture in the air is tricky and depends on several factors, such as weather and winds. Usually the team decides whether to catch or collect on launch day. And those recovery efforts take place roughly 45 minutes after takeoff.
Currently, the weather is at 70% for the launch opportunity on Monday, and the only weather concerns are the possibility of cumulus clouds over the launch site. There is a backup release time on Tuesday if needed. Launch weather on that day looks even better, with a 90% chance of favorable launch conditions.
If all goes according to plan, this could mark the first of two SpaceX launches from Florida this week. The Hawthorne, California-based company plans to launch a carpool mission on Thursday (January 21). And it could end the month with another Starlink mission.
Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
