{"id":11211,"date":"2022-10-29T01:50:40","date_gmt":"2022-10-28T17:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-adds-53-more-starlink-satellites-to-internet-constellation\/"},"modified":"2022-10-29T01:50:40","modified_gmt":"2022-10-28T17:50:40","slug":"spacex-adds-53-more-starlink-satellites-to-internet-constellation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-adds-53-more-starlink-satellites-to-internet-constellation\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX adds 53 more Starlink satellites to internet constellation"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket fires its upper stage engine to propel 53 Starlink internet satellites into orbit. The rocket\u2019s first stage booster and two halves of the payload fairing are visible returning to Earth for recovery and reuse. Credit: Gene Blevins \/ LA Daily News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SpaceX fired a Falcon 9 rocket off a launching stand in California at sunset Thursday, producing a twilight sky show visible as far away as Texas as the mission delivered 53 more Starlink internet satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n

Powered by a first stage booster making its eighth flight, the Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base about 140 miles (225 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles at 6:14:10 p.m. PDT (9:14:10 p.m. EDT; 0114:10 GMT). Nine Merlin engines powered rocket southeast from Vandenberg over the Pacific Ocean for the first two-and-a-half minutes of the flight.<\/p>\n

An upper stage engine then took over the mission, steering the rocket on a slight left-hand turn to line up with the mission\u2019s target orbital path and accelerating to nearly 5 miles per second. The first stage extended titanium grid fins and reignited three of its engines for a braking burn, then plunged back into the atmosphere and lit a single Merlin engine to slow down for landing on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean west of Baja California.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 aimed to deliver the stack of Starlink internet relay nodes into a low-altitude orbit ranging in altitude between 143 miles (230 kilometers) and 209 miles (337 kilometers), with an inclination of 53.2 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

Fifteen minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage deployed the mission\u2019s payload of 53 Starlink internet satellites into an on-target orbit. The deployment milestone concluded SpaceX\u2019s 49th mission of the year, a record for any launch company, and SpaceX\u2019s 13th flight of 2022 from the West Coast launch base in California.<\/p>\n

The sunset climb to space was visible across the Southwestern United States and Mexico, with the last rays of evening sun lightning up the Falcon 9\u2019s expanding exhaust plume in space. Photos shared on social media from as far away as West Texas showed the rocket\u2019s comet-like exhaust trail illuminated against the night sky on the western horizon.<\/p>\n