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SpaceX, led by Elon Musk, conducted a static fire test of its Falcon 9 rocket that is slated to launch the next fleet of 60 Starlink satellites on a mission called “Starlink 6” on April 23.
That rocket is expected to launch from the historic Launch Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, Space.com reported Sunday. This will be Starlink’s fifth mission this year and the company’s seventh batch of operational satellites since 2019.
Probable litmus test on Thursday
“Falcon 9 static litmus test complete – target Thursday April 23 at 3:16 pm EDT, 19:16 UTC, for the launch of 60 Starlink satellites from LC-39A in Florida,” SpaceX tweeted shortly after the proof.
The first-stage rocket rocket supporting this mission previously supported SpaceX’s first Crew Dragon capsule flight to the International Space Station in 2019, the launch of the RADARSAT Constellation Mission, and the fourth Starlink mission.
It will provide low cost internet.
Starlink is SpaceX’s ambitious project to launch and operate its own broadband satellite network, which will provide low-cost Internet to remote locations globally. A Falcon 9 rocket will also launch SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying NASA astronauts to the International Space Station on May 27.
This “Demo-2” mission will be the last important step before NASA’s Commercial Crew Program certifies Crew Dragon for long-term operational missions to the space station.