On May 7, the SpaceX Falcon 9 launch vehicle successfully delivered 28 minisatellites into orbit, which added to the orbital grouping of the Starlink global Internet system network. About this reported press service of the SpaceX company.
“Deployment of 28 Starlink satellites confirmed”, – says the official message.
The launch took place on Tuesday at 21:17 EST (Wednesday at 04:17 Kyiv time) from the 40th launch complex of the US Space Force base at Cape Canaveral in Florida. About an hour after launch, the satellites separated from the second stage of the rocket and went into orbit. The reusable first stage of the Falcon 9, which has been in use for the last time, has made a controlled landing on the Just Read the Instructions maritime drone platform in the Atlantic Ocean after separation.
Since the start of the Starlink project in May 2019, SpaceX has launched more than 8,400 satellites. Some of them have already failed or left orbit, but more than 7,300 remain in orbit in working condition.
The company’s future plans are to expand the grouping to 12,000 satellites, and later to 30,000, in order to create a global network that will provide broadband Internet access anywhere on the planet. The total amount of investment in the project is estimated at 10 billion dollars.
