SpaceX plans to launch 2 batches of Starlink satellites this week

CAPA CANAVERAL, Fla. – SpaceX plans to continue the weekly launches of 60 Starlink satellites at a time, with at least two scheduled for next week.

The private space company and now a growing internet provider has not revealed its next Falcon 9 launches, but the Federal Aviation Authority’s flight restrictions show more potential windows for two launches.

Pending approval from the 45th space wing, which oversees the eastern area, a SpaceX Falcon 9 will depart from the Cape Canaveral space force base on Saturday night carrying several Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit.

[RELATED COVERAGE: New internet option emerges as SpaceX expands Starlink service to more customers | SpaceX to launch NASA’s lunar Gateway on Falcon Heavy]

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In range, another Falcon 9 could leave the Kennedy Space Center Launchpad 39A on Tuesday morning, also with about 60 Starlink satellites.

The launch at KSC was postponed several times last week. The company said in a tweet that it needs “additional inspections before flying with one of our leading fleet amplifiers.”

Combined, the launches will send the constellation Starlink over 1,000 orbiting the Earth. The Starlink constellation is part of CEO Elon Musk’s plan to create a space internet using a network of, ultimately, 42,000 satellites. In the last few weeks, the company has expanded its beta testing of its Internet service to include more than 10,000 customers.

Potential customers can visit Starlink.com and request a $ 499 Starlink kit with $ 99 a month. The kit includes a Wi-Fi router and a plate. However, it depends on where a customer lives about when the kit and service will begin, according to SpaceX. For an address in Orlando, the given estimate is from the middle to the end of 2021.

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Laura Forczyk, owner of the space consulting firm Astralytical, said that in addition to registering several clients, the company must also prove to the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates the broadband use of satellites, that it can fulfill by offering SpaceX services. that will make with the constellation Starlink.

“The FCC has given SpaceX the ability to use certain broadband they have provided if they are successful with Starlink with a certain number of customers and a certain number of satellites launched in a certain period of time,” Forcyk for News. 6.

SpaceX tries to succeed where other companies have failed. Musk said in a tweet this week that Starlink could be the first.

“SpaceX has to go through a deep chasm of negative cash flow next year or so to make Starlink financially viable,” the CEO wrote on Twitter. “Every new satellite constellation in history has gone bankrupt. We hope to be the first not to do so. ”

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