SpaceX Falcon 9 Launched a Set of 60 Satellites on Its 100th Flight

On November 24, SpaceX Falcon launched with the latest Starlink satellite from the Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida at 9:13 PM EST. About 15 minutes later, the upper stage of the rocket released its payload of 60 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.

Falcon 9's first stage landed on the Atlantic Ocean, which completes its record-setting seventh launch. It was in September 2018 that the stage flew first, launching the Telstar 18 Vantage satellite followed by another mission a few months later in January 2019.

Then it was used again to launch four more Starlink satellites starting May 2019 until August this year, Space News reported.

Falcon 9's 100th flight

The launch on Tuesday is SpaceX Falcon 9's 100th overall flight, including the June 2015 launch failure but excluding the destruction of another rocket on the pad during preparations in September 2016.

As of now, SpaceX has already launched a total of 955 satellites, with 895 of them already in orbit. The company is now testing the broadband of internet service provided by these satellites by SpaceX in northern Canada and the northern US. SpaceX said that they are planning to extend their beta test by January and February next year.

1,400 Satellite To Provide Worldwide Broadband Operations

Along with the successful flight of Falcon 9 are the 60 Starlink satellites that were successfully put into low Earth orbit that is now steadily moving in their locations. With over 900 operational Starlink satellites in orbit, SpaceX said that it would still need 1,400 more to provide global coverage of broadband operations.

The company said that they would continue to add satellites in the future to increase available bandwidth and serve more customers within a specific area. SpaceX has a license to put up 12,000 satellites into orbit.

There are five more Starlink launches that are expected by the end of the year, in December. Then by 2021, SpaceX expects to build up to two launches per month, which are considered to be an elusive goal given the tight schedule in both commercial and government manifest.

SpaceX Delays Commercial Service

According to Reuters, the space company will continue beta testing Falcon 9 and Starlink satellites next year, which indicates that the commercial service would not likely be offered this year contrary to what was previously planned.

SpaceX engineer Kate Tice said during a livestream on Tuesday, before the launch of Falcon 9, that with the pace they are going at now it is expected for the beta test to expand in a notable way until early next year by January to February.

Initially, SpaceX anticipated offering commercial flights by the end of 2020, then rapidly expand their global satellite coverage by 2021.

Check out more news and information on SpaceX and Falcon 9 on Science Times.