SpaceX Launches 57 Starlink Satellites Using Delayed Sunshades Again

The last Launch of SpaceX Starlink from Cape Canaveral, Florida, has been postponed for the third time in three weeks.

Blastoff was originally scheduled for June 26, but was delayed to address technical issues and then delayed again on Wednesday due to weather that would not cooperate. SpaceX has now ruled out a planned launch for Saturday morning to allow more time for technical payments.

When it finally takes off, the Falcon 9 rocket will carry a payload that includes SpaceX’s first batch of broadband satellites equipped with an umbrella to reduce their brightness.

Since Elon Musk’s company began launching the small satellites over a year ago, astronomers and other observers have been surprised and even disturbed by the amount of sunlight reflected by orbiting routers, often interfering with scientific observations.

Musk and SpaceX have been working with major astronomical organizations on the problem and have pledged to fix the problem as plans to launch tens of thousands of satellites increase in the coming years.

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Initially, SpaceX attempted to launch a so-called “darksat”, which was essentially a dark-coated Starlink satellite, but the results of this approach were mixed. The company then developed and tested a folding umbrella called VisorSat.

A satellite equipped with VisorSat was launched earlier this month to test the new technology, and the next launch will bring the first batch of satellites to the shade.

A June 30 Falcon 9 rocket launch he carried a new GPS satellite up for the US military. That was followed by SpaceX’s first landing after sending a military satellite into space.

Once we have a new release date, we’ll make sure to update this story.