In a recent development SpaceX has achieved an enormous feat becoming the world’s sole largest operator for its satellite constellation. This was achieved by launching 60 of its own Starlink broadband satellites on Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 rocket lift off was recorded at exact 9:19 p.m. The 60 satellites launched by SpaceX’s Starlink was to provide high-speed broadband which separated by the rocket’s main fuselage about an hour after lift of.
The company has decided the launch of its satellites at a 290 kilometer orbit where the company would test other technicalities before further raising it to its target 550 Kilometer orbit. The company till date has launched around 182 satellites to be precise for Starlink, this includes the two protypes the company orbited nearly two years ago.
The company has mentioned that three Starlink satellites had failed shortly after lift of and there are other two satellites that would be de-orbited as a routine practice. The company has plans to deploy 1,584 satellites at the 550 Km mark to speed up the services rollout. The company says that at that altitude, the satellites which fails would self deorbit itself with an atmospheric drag within 25 years. This is a guideline suggested by NASA and other space agencies.
The company has accelerated the process of its commercialization project of launching at least 12,000 satellites and has filed regulatory paperwork with the United Nations’ International Telecommunications Union for another 30,000 satellites. The founder of SpaceX Elon Musk has said that Starlink would be “economically viable” at around 1000 satellites, launching 12,000 satellites would make the project much more successful business venture for Starlink.
