Posted on 04/19/2023 9:37:38 AM PDT by Red Badger
A vapor trail forms as SpaceX launches 53 Starlink Satellites from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on July 24. SpaceX plans to put 21 more satellites into space on Wednesday. File Photo by Joe Marino/UPI | License Photo April 19 (UPI) -- SpaceX successfully launched 21 second-generation Starlink satellites into orbit on a blue sky day in Florida that went off with few problems Wednesday.
The flight took off at around 10:31 a.m. after a handful of delays but once it left the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station everything appeared to go routinely well. That included the return of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket onto the "Shortfall of Gravitas" drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The flight allowed SpaceX to continue to populate low-Earth orbit with its Internet-enabling devices.
VIDEO AT LINK..............
The batch of second-generation satellites was deployed after some of the first-generation Starlink satellites deorbited sooner than originally planned. The improved satellites will eventually make up the bulk of the Starlink fleet around Earth at an altitude of 332 miles.
SpaceX had originally planned to send a batch of full-sized v2 satellites into space on its Starship rocket, the company's largest yet, but the rocket is still in its testing stages, with its latest trial flight postponed on Monday after a pressurization issue. It is now scheduled for Thursday.
The smaller "mini v2" satellites still feature a majority of the improvements over the previous v1.5 satellites. SpaceX has more than 4,000 Starlink satellites orbiting the Earth but has plans to greatly increase that total. The space company has the approval to put as many as 12,000 more Starlink craft into orbit.
The Starlink satellites were created to deliver broadband Internet service to remote or underserved locations around the world. Some scientists, though, have complained that so many satellites could prevent other science space observations.
SpaceX has been launching the Starlink satellites at a rapid pace. On March 24, it put 56 satellites into space. The company has also built an impressive winning streak in its landing of the first stage.
SpaceX will make its second attempt of the Super Heavy Starship test fought Thursday morning from its facility in Boca Chica, Texas.
Our “pogo sticks” are doing a lot better than Roscosmos’s rockets ... Falcon 9 continues to be awesome.
Is there any betting on tomorrow’s attempt to launch Starship?
Thousands of satellites going into orbit to watch and record our every move and Internet message.
“That included the return of the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket onto the “Shortfall of Gravitas” drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean”
Watching that never gets old.
All that shade should reduce Global Warming.......................
Agreed.
Great! More command and control of us from the skies!
(I can’t believe the Freepers who fall for this guy.)
BTW, I had a “stomp rocket” like that back in the Dark Ages when I was <10 YO. We got a lot better performance out of it than those poor souls seem to manage.
I still marvel at one man creating this company and building it like he has done. What an incredible success story from an incredible man.
My dad built spacecraft for a living at GE and had some amazing missions. I always felt my career in energy and tech was puny in comparison to Dad and the what SpaceX is doing.
LOL...right you are!
My stepdad worked on the Mercury project in California..................
Because there's just no way to monitor and record terrestrial internet traffic.
I'm glad Starlink is operational. I'm sure it's pure coincidence that Frontier Communications finally got off their lazy butts and ran fiber out to my area shortly after Starlink became available here.
My dad built a valve in California designed to kill one of the LEM astronauts.
It was never needed...
“My dad built a valve in California designed to kill one of the LEM astronauts.”
Interesting. Can you elaborate on that?
So basically everyone will soon have Starlink access. I imagine we may soon see $19.99/month ultra fast internet service for all.
Cool! My dad was working on the Polaris ICBM about the same time as Mercury was underway.
Sure. Only one oxygen supply on the LEM, due to weight restrictions. Both astronauts are plugged in to a common, the only, oxygen supply.
Let’s say that’s you and me.
I manage to get a hole or tear in my space suit. The valve shuts off my oxygen supply and I die.
If the valve doesn’t shut off the oxygen flowing to my suit, there soon won’t be any oxygen for either of us. We both die.
My retired Marine (WWII, China, Korea, and Vietnam veteran) understood the calculus here, and built the valves, hoping they’d never be needed.
They weren’t.
My God! That is one scary world you live in…all by yourself!
I believe that even if Tesla vehicles are not profitable, Space X will add more Billions to Musk's wealth. His vision is the future while NASA is looking at the past. As the saying goes, "The more the government is involved, the less progress and more bureaucracy keeps innovation in a box."
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