49 microsatellites will be launched into low Earth orbit
NEW YORK, January 19. /tass/. The American company SpaceX on Tuesday launched a Falcon 9 launch vehicle with another grouping of Starlink microsatellites. The broadcast is conducted on the company's website.
The launch from the Cape Canaveral cosmodrome (Florida) took place at 21:03 local time (05:03 Moscow time on January 19). This time, 49 microsatellites will be launched into low Earth orbit.
The first stage of the rocket was previously used for nine launches. SpaceX employees intend to return this Falcon 9 element to Earth again. It is expected that after the launch, the stage will automatically descend smoothly to a floating platform in the Atlantic Ocean. This technology allows the company to reduce the cost of regular launches.
The Starlink network is designed to provide Internet access by deploying a large number of devices weighing 260 kg. According to SpaceX, the launch of a total of 11 thousand satellites and their commissioning will cost $ 10 billion. The company assures that it will be able to provide broadband Internet with a traffic speed of 1 gigabit per second, which corresponds to the 5G standard. The current launch was the 36th in a row under the Starlink program, in total, since May 2019, SpaceX has put about 2 thousand satellites into orbit.