{"id":10715,"date":"2022-01-19T20:45:06","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T12:45:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-launches-2000th-starlink-satellite\/"},"modified":"2022-01-19T20:45:06","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T12:45:06","slug":"spacex-launches-2000th-starlink-satellite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-launches-2000th-starlink-satellite\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX launches 2,000th Starlink satellite"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket streaks into orbit with 49 more Starlink internet satellites. Credit: Michael Cain \/ Spaceflight Now \/ Coldlife Photography<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A package of 49 Starlink satellites that rode a Falcon 9 rocket into orbit Tuesday night from Florida included the 2,000th spacecraft to launch into SpaceX\u2019s broadband internet network.<\/p>\n

The successful orbital deployment of SpaceX\u2019s newest 49 satellites brought the total number of Starlink spacecraft built and launched to 2,042, including prototypes and testbeds no longer in service.<\/p>\n

Elon Musk, SpaceX\u2019s founder and CEO, tweeted Saturday that the company has 1,469 active Starlink satellites, plus 272 spacecraft still maneuvering to their operational orbits. He added the laser inter-satellite links, used to beam internet traffic from spacecraft to spacecraft without going through a ground station, will activate soon.<\/p>\n

More than 200 Starlink satellites have failed or been decommissioned. Some of those Starlink spacecraft were earlier models, either used as test versions or obsolete.<\/p>\n

The latest Starlink mission was the 35th dedicated Falcon 9 launch to build out the network.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) launcher lifted off from pad 39A at NASA\u2019s Kennedy Space Center at 9:02:40 p.m. EST Tuesday (0202:40 GMT Wednesday) and climbed into moonlit sky, arcing downrange toward the southeast over the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

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A Falcon 9 rocket transits the moon Tuesday night. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mission was originally supposed to take off Monday night, but SpaceX delayed the flight by a day to wait for improved weather conditions at the Falcon 9 booster\u2019s offshore recovery site near the Bahamas.<\/p>\n

SpaceX bypassed another launch opportunity at 7:04 p.m. EST Tuesday without explanation, and instead targeted a backup launch slot at 9:02 p.m.<\/p>\n

Nine Merlin engines ramped up to full throttle, generating 1.7 million pounds of thrust, to power the Falcon 9 off the launch pad.<\/p>\n

A high-magnification night-vision tracking camera showed the rocket\u2019s first stage shutting down its engines two-and-a-half minutes into the mission. The booster stage jettisoned moments later, and the second stage lit its Merlin engine with a puff of exhaust to continue the climb into orbit.<\/p>\n

The first stage followed a parabolic trajectory, briefly soaring above the atmosphere beyond the edge of space before plunging back to Earth for a propulsive landing on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cA Shortfall of Gravitas\u201d around 400 miles (650 kilometers) southeast of Cape Canaveral near the Bahamas.<\/p>\n

The on-target landing completed the 10th flight of the booster used on Tuesday night\u2019s mission. The booster \u2014 tail number B1060 \u2014 debuted on June 30, 2020, with the launch of a U.S. military GPS navigation satellite.<\/p>\n