Elon Musk’s space company SpaceX has added 46 more satellites to its Starlink internet network, which is currently more than a thousand in operation and will add new reinforcements with two launches in the coming days. The latest launches are part of the huge network SpaceX calls the “satellite internet constellation.”
The accelerator rocket of the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket, which took off from Florida in the past hours, landed on SpaceX’s ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in a short time of 8 minutes and 48 seconds. This was Falcon 9’s eleventh takeoff and landing since SpaceX’s first manned mission launched in 2020.
46 more satellites were sent for the Starlink internet network
The launch, which was completed in the past hours, is the third shipment of Starlink satellites this year. However, the last mission, carried out on February 3, was hit by a geomagnetic storm due to a solar flare and the satellites were rendered useless.
The company estimates atmospheric drift relative to previous launches due to the storm’s rate of climb and severity. He said it had increased by 50 percent. The company, which sent 49 new Starlink satellites into space on Thursday, February 3, reported that the day after that, the geomagnetic storm hit the Earth’s outer atmosphere.
SpaceX launched the satellites into a higher, circular orbit to mitigate the potential risks of a similar solar storm, but this orbital change resulted in a reduction in the number of satellites from 49 to 46.
Starlink aims to place thousands of satellites into orbit to create a broadband internet network that can serve remote or rural areas.
The company said current internet service comes from satellites about 35,000 kilometers from Earth, but Starlink’s actual “constellation” is much closer, at about 550 kilometers. According to the latest company data, the Starlink internet service currently has more than 145,000 subscribers in 25 countries.
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