It’s been a good couple of weeks for SpaceX. At the end of May, the Crew Dragon capsule successfully transported 2 astronauts to the International Space Station — a landmark moment in space exploration. This weekend, SpaceX earned more accolades. This time around, the mission took place before the sun had crossed the horizon, making the most of a predawn hour.
Early in the morning of June 13, a Falcon 9 rocket sent 58 Starlink satellites into orbit, accompanied by a trio of Planet SkySats. Writing at Space.com, Tariq Malik has a detailed report about the launch. As Malik notes, it also left a number of distinct visuals in the sky for those keeping watch at that early hour. The goal of those satellites? Increasing the world’s internet connectivity. Malik has more details in the article:
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch on Saturday was the ninth mission to launch dozens of Starlink internet satellites at one time as the company builds a megaconstellation in orbit. The satellites are designed to provide high-speed internet access anywhere on Earth, particularly in remote and under served locations.
Once the satellites had headed into orbit, the Falcon 9 returned to Earth and landed on the vessel Of Course I Still Love You, which was floating in the Atlantic.
It’s a new wrinkle on space travel and space exploration — but it’s also a welcome event to be excited about this kind of technology again.
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