SpaceX will launch 53 more Starlink Internet satellites and land a rocket into the sea today (August 19), and you can watch it all live.
a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying 53 starlink The spacecraft is scheduled to take off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida today at 3:21 p.m. EDT (1921 GMT). Watch it here on Space.com, courtesy of SpaceX, or directly through the company (Opens in a new tab). Coverage will begin approximately 5 minutes before takeoff.
The procedure will include a landing as well as a take-off: about nine minutes into the mission, it will include Falcon 9The first stage will return to Earth for a vertical landing on the SpaceX drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida.
Related: Starlink megaconstellation from SpaceX is launched in pictures
This will be the ninth launch and landing of this first stage of the Falcon 9, according to A Description of the SpaceX mission (Opens in a new tab).
The rocket’s upper stage will continue on its way upward, eventually deploying 53 satellites into low Earth orbit just over 15 minutes after launch.
SpaceX is already launched More than 3000 spacecraft For the Starlink constellation, which broadcasts broadband service to customers all over the world.
Many of those satellites have gone up this year. SpaceX has carried out 36 orbital launches in 2022 so far, 22 of which are intended for Starlink missions. This is a record-breaking launch cadence. The company’s previous mark for most orbital missions in a year was 31, and it’s set in 2021.
Mike Wall is the author of “Abroad (Opens in a new tab)Book (Great Grand Publishing House, 2018; illustrated by Carl Tate), a book on the search for extraterrestrials. Follow him on Twitter Tweet embed (Opens in a new tab). Follow us on Twitter Tweet embed (Opens in a new tab) or on Facebook (Opens in a new tab).
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