(ANSA) – ROME, JANUARY 20 – The Starlink constellation for satellite internet reaches 2,000 satellites, a milestone reached with the 35th dedicated launch. The goal was exceeded thanks to the new launch of a Falcon 9 rocket from the Kennedy Space Center that put another 49 satellites into orbit. But of the 2,000 satellites launched, only 1,469 are actually operational while 272 are currently heading into operational orbit and the rest have been destroyed or malfunctioned.
New milestone reached for the ambitious project of Elon Musk, the American tycoon who also founded Tesla and SpaceX, to provide an internet connection service to every point of the planet via satellite and which has already entered into operation in 25 countries, serving over 145,000 users all over the world. With the 49 new satellites launched yesterday, the barrier of 2,000 satellites was broken, of the more than 4,000 expected to complete the constellation. However, not all of them are operational, as recalled by a tweet by Musk himself who updated the data explaining that at the moment 1,469 are really operational while one half of the remaining ones still have to reach the final orbit (it takes weeks to complete this phase). The other half is made up of non-operational satellites, used for example in the test phase, or malfunctioning or destroyed: a percentage of failures already taken into account in the initial phases of the program and which should be in line with forecasts.
The first stage of the rocket, called B1060, thus completed its tenth flight, the debut took place on June 30, 2020 with the launch of a GPS satellite, and successfully put 487 satellites into orbit so far. SpaceX’s next target is the launch, scheduled for January 27, of the new Italian Cosmo-SkyMed second generation satellite with a Falcon 9 rocket (ANSA).
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Source From: Ansa
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