The Falcon 9 rocket of the American private aerospace company SpaceX launched 40 satellites into orbit, the company’s press service reports .
The rocket was launched on April 1 at 12:24 pm ET from the 40th launch complex located at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport in Florida.
“There were 40 spacecraft on board, including CubeSats (a format of small satellites weighing no more than 1.33 kg), Microsats (small satellites weighing less than 0.5-1 tons), Picosats (a microsatellite weighing about 67 kg for testing electronic components), payloads placed without deployment and an orbital transport vehicle with spacecraft that will be deployed later, ”the message says.
The press service added that after separation, the first stage of the Falcon 9 rocket landed on the Just Read the Instructions drone, which was in the Atlantic Ocean.
- SpaceX to lose up to 40 StarLink satellites due to geomagnetic storm Technology and media
On February 3, a Falcon 9 launch vehicle launched 49 StarLink internet satellites into low Earth orbit. This launch using such a launch vehicle was the sixth in a row.
However, SpaceX later announced that it would lose about 40 of the 49 satellites launched into orbit on February 3 as a result of a geomagnetic storm. “Preliminary analysis indicates that increased low-altitude drag prevented them from exiting safe mode to begin orbit-raising maneuvers, with up to 40 satellites re-entering or already re-entering the Earth’s atmosphere,” the statement said. The company assured that “the risk of collision with other satellites is zero.”
- SpaceX launches 49 more Starlink satellites into orbit
The SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, which launched 49 Starlink satellites into orbit. This was reported on the SpaceX Twitter page.
The rocket was launched on January 18 at 21:02 US East Coast time. Falcon 9 launched 49 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The SpaceX noted that the mission was already the tenth for this first stage of the Falcon 9 launch vehicle. Previously, it had already put Starlink satellites into orbit seven times, as well as GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2.
Later, SpaceX reported that the satellites were deployed, and the first stage of the rocket landed successfully .
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 19, 2022
The launch of the carrier rocket was planned to take place on the morning of January 17, but it was postponed twice due to adverse weather conditions.
Starlink is a project to create a system of satellites, the purpose of which is to provide global access to high-speed Internet. Satellites are being deployed in an orbit with a height of 550 km, the company intends to launch about 12,000 such devices by the mid-2020s.
