#Watch falcon 9 launch live software

The Starlink spacecraft beam broadband internet signals to consumers around the world, connectivity that is now available on all seven continents with testing underway at a research station in Antarctica. SpaceX said earlier this month the network now has more than 1 million active subscribers. The Gen2 satellites could improve Starlink coverage over lower latitude regions, and help alleviate pressure on the network from growing consumer uptake. SpaceX told the FCC earlier this year it planned to consolidate the V-band Starlink fleet into the larger Gen2 constellation. SpaceX also received regulatory approval to launch more than 7,500 Starlink satellites operating in a different V-band frequency. The FCC previously authorized SpaceX to launch and operate up to 12,000 Starlink satellites, including roughly 4,400 first-generation Ka-band and Ku-band Starlink spacecraft that SpaceX has been launching since 2019. Ultimately, this enables us to add more customers and provide faster service – particularly in areas that are currently over-subscribed.” “Under our new license, we are now able to deploy satellites to new orbits that will add even more capacity to the network. “This launch marks the first of Starlink’s upgraded network,” SpaceX said on its website. The regulatory agency deferred a decision on the remaining satellites SpaceX proposed for Gen2. 1 to launch up to 7,500 of its planned 29,988-spacecraft Starlink Gen2 constellation. The Federal Communications Commission granted SpaceX approval Dec. EST (0934 GMT) Wednesday with 54 more Starlink internet satellites. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket at 4:34 a.m. There were 54 satellites on the Falcon 9 launcher set to fly Wednesday, the same number SpaceX has launched on many recent Starlink missions.Ī view of the 54 Starlink satellites after separation of the Falcon 9’s payload fairing showed the spacecraft similar in appearance to the internet satellites SpaceX has been launching since 2019.

#Watch falcon 9 launch live software

It was unclear whether SpaceX will use the satellites to test out new hardware or software to be used on the Gen2 network.īut the circumstances of the flight suggest the Starlink satellites on-board the Falcon 9 rocket are similar in size to SpaceX’s existing Starlink spacecraft, and not the larger Gen2 satellites destined to fly on the huge new Starship rocket, or even the mini Gen2 satellites Musk mentioned earlier this year. SpaceX revealed little information about the satellites that launched Wednesday. Elon Musk, SpaceX’s founder and CEO, suggested in August that the company could develop a miniature version of the Gen2 satellites to fit on the Falcon 9 rocket. SpaceX is developing a much larger, higher-power Starlink satellite platform capable transmitting signals directly to cell phones. But with the Starship’s first orbital test flight still on hold, SpaceX officials have signaled they will start launching the Gen2 satellites on Falcon 9 rockets. The Falcon 9 rocket released the 54 satellites at an orbital altitude and inclination set aside for use by SpaceX’s second-generation Starlink network, which the company eventually intends to launch on the new Starship mega-rocket. The 54 satellites launching Wednesday were the first spacecraft deployed into a new segment of the Starlink constellation. The mission was SpaceX’s 60th launch of the year, with one more Falcon 9 flight set to blast off later this week from Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, with an Israeli Earth-imaging satellite. EST (0934 GMT) Wednesday, about six minutes earlier than previously announced. Liftoff of the Falcon 9 rocket from pad 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on SpaceX’s Starlink 5-1 mission occurred at 4:34 a.m. SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Wednesday with 54 more Starlink internet satellites, a mission to begin populating a new orbital shell authorized by federal regulators earlier this month for the company’s Starlink Gen2 network.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Watch a replay of our live coverage of the Falcon 9 launch on the Starlink 5-1 mission.