SpaceX will be adding more satellites for Starlink this week. After several delays last week, Elon Musk's space company plans to launch the satellites on Tuesday.
SpaceX to Launch 22 Starlink Satellites
On Tuesday (January 23), SpaceX intends to launch 22 Starlink internet satellites. This comes after multiple previous efforts that resulted in delays and an inexplicable abort.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 Starlink spacecraft is scheduled to take off from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base at 7:35 p.m. EST (4:35 p.m. California time; 00:35 GMT on January 24). Due to bad weather, Sunday night's liftoff attempt was canceled.
"Standing down from tonight's Falcon 9 launch attempt due to weather, now targeting January 21," SpaceX announced Sunday.
However, it wasn't successful. After the said attempt, the space company made another update, informing the public that they would make another attempt on Tuesday.
"Standing down from tonight's Falcon 9 launch attempt due to weather, now targeting January 23," SpaceX announced in a separate tweet.
On Tuesday, starting five minutes before liftoff, you can watch a live webcast of the launch on SpaceX's website and X @SpaceX.
On Friday, a launch attempt failed with 57 seconds remaining in the countdown. SpaceX did not provide any explanation for the failed liftoff was not given by SpaceX.
If all goes according to plan, the first stage of the Falcon 9 will return to Earth around eight minutes after liftoff and land on the drone ship, Of Course, I Still Love You, which will be based in the Pacific Ocean.
This will be the booster's 16th launch and landing, based on a description of the SpaceX mission. NASA's Double Asteroid Redirection Test (DART) and ten other Starlink missions were among its prior flights.
Standing down from tonight’s Falcon 9 launch attempt due to weather, now targeting January 23 → https://t.co/bJFjLCiTbK
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 22, 2024
Starlink Launched 23 Starlink Internet Satellites
SpaceX has been actively sending more satellites for Starlink since it launched. SpaceX also sent 23 satellites from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station earlier this month aboard a Falcon 9 rocket.
According to the description of the SpaceX mission, this was the booster's 16th launch and landing. The 23 Starlink satellites were carried into low Earth orbit by the upper stage of the Falcon 9, and their scheduled deployment time was 65.5 minutes after liftoff.
The flight was SpaceX's third orbital launch for 2024. According to SpaceX officials, there will be many more missions in the future as the company aims to launch 144 this year, surpassing its previous high of 98 missions set in 2023.
Elon Musk, the CEO of SpaceX, discussed the future of Starlink and Starshield in September. Starlink "needs to be a civilian network," according to the tech mogul, and it won't participate in hostilities. Starshield, on the other hand, will be under the control and ownership of the Department of Defense Space Force, acting on behalf of the US government.
"This is the proper sequence of events," he continued.
Many supported Musk's plan. Political journalist and AI and technology expert Brian Krassentein said Musk's decision was reasonable.
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