Despite the days of weather delays, the launch of SpaceX‘s Starlinks took place on Tuesday, October 6 at 7:29 a.m. EDT, 11:29 UTC, SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Following stage separation, SpaceX landed Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. One of Falcon 9’s fairing halves supported two previous Starlink launches, and Ms. Tree successfully caught that fairing half after launch. The Starlink satellites deployed approximately 1 hour and 1 minute after liftoff.
Falcon 9’s first stage previously supported launch of Crew Dragon’s first flight to the International Space Station with NASA astronauts onboard and the ANASIS-II mission.
Last week, emergency responders in Washington State shared their experience using Starlink. In the wake of the wildfires that devastated areas of the state in August, first responders there have been using the service for their purposes and to help bring the residents of Malden internet service while they rebuild their community.
Some of the first to benefit from the internet service has been first responders in areas impacted by wildfires in Washington state. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said in a tweet the company is prioritizing emergency responders and locations with no internet connectivity” for its first customers. Malden is located about 35 miles south of Spokane, Washington, which falls within the northern latitudes our satellites currently service. The way emergency responders deployed Starlink in this context is representative of how Starlink works best—in remote or rural areas where internet connectivity is unavailable.
Our Starlink network is still in its early stages, but as our network grows our coverage will grow as well. If you would like to receive updates on Starlink news and service availability in your area, please visit starlink.com.
This launch will send the Starlink satellite constellation near 800 spacecraft in low-Earth orbit. Eventually, the company plans to have a fleet comprised of more than 40,000 satellites providing internet to even remote areas of the world.
