SpaceX Falcon 9 Rocket Sends Off 53 Starlink Satellites Despite Elon Musk's Rift With Employee

SpaceX launched a fresh fleet of Starlink internet satellites into orbit, returning the old two-stage Falcon 9 rocket on Wednesday.

"Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off carrying our 53 Starlink satellites into space," SpaceX production manager Jessie Anderson said during a live webcast (via Space.com).

The 53 satellites placed into the payload fairing will incrementally raise their orbits to an ultimate destination of around 350 miles above Earth during the next few weeks.

At Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Saturday, SpaceX will launch its internet-satellite mega-constellations, including another batch of 60 Starlink satellites.

Meanwhile, Florida Today said a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket would launch Boeing's Starliner spacecraft on an uncrewed trip to the International Space Station from the nearby Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The launch is scheduled for 6:54 p.m. EDT on Thursday from Launch Complex 41.

There will be just 36 hours between SpaceX and ULA's missions if it takes off on schedule.

SpaceX Launches More Starlink Broadband Constellations

Starlink is a satellite broadband constellation operated by SpaceX that provides satellite Internet access worldwide.
UPI said liftoff from NASA's Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center occurred at 6:59 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, roughly 39 minutes later than SpaceX had anticipated.

The entire operation took about nine minutes to complete after liftoff. Anderson reported it was the 121st landing of a SpaceX rocket during the show.
After earlier launches on Friday and Saturday, this is the company's third Starlink mission in five days.

Currently, Starlink is thought to have around 2,300 satellites in orbit.

So far in 2022, SpaceX has flown 21 missions, 14 of which are dedicated Starlink flights, including Wednesday's launch.

Elon Musk's Unfortunate Row With Ex-SpaceX Colleague For Failed Launch

Even though SpaceX is now a household brand in space exploration, the company's early years were challenging, owing to several unsuccessful launches.

Omelek Island hosted the first SpaceX Falcon 1 rocket test in 2006. However, the rocket malfunctioned and crashed down to Earth.

In the Channel 4 documentary 'Elon Musk: Superhero or Supervillain?,' Jeramy Hollman, a SpaceX engineer from 2002 to 2008, discussed the botched launch.

"That was a pretty big blow, it felt at the very least unfair and almost vindictive," he said per Express.

Hollman, a senior engineer on the Falcon I launch crew, alleged that Musk personally blamed him for the project's failure.

He said that Musk accused him of neglecting to tighten a critical nut that led to the crash and claimed the SpaceX just gave him a blank stare.

"He just kind of looked at me bewildered that I was in front of him in the state that I was in," Hollman added.

"He seemed shocked that I was having that response to what I had read," he said.
An assessment following the launch failure concluded that Mr. Hollman was not responsible for the incident, and two more rockets failed to launch after that.

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