Tag Archives: SpaceX

SpaceX Launches 1st Test Satellites for Starlink Internet Constellation Along with Spain’s Paz

SpaceX Launches 1st Test Satellites for Starlink Internet Constellation Along with Spain's Paz

Download mission Press Kit:
 
03:39A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket with a pre-flown first stage successfully delivered to orbit today (Feb. 22) the first two prototypes for the company's huge Starlink satellite-internet constellation, along with a Spanish Earth-observing spacecraft.
 
The two-stage Falcon 9 lifted off from California's Vandenberg Air Force Base today at 9:17 a.m. EST (1417 GMT; 6:17 a.m. local California time) and successfully delivered its main payload, the Paz radar-imaging satellite, into its intended orbit. In a first, SpaceX also attempted to recover the protective nose-cone-like payload fairing in the Pacific Ocean with a net-carrying boat called Mr. Steven.
 
The test satellites are another step forward for chief executive Elon Musk, who dreams of building a worldwide network of thousands of orbiting devices that can beam Internet signals down to Earth from low orbit.
 
SpaceX isn't the only company with satellite-internet dreams. The FCC has already approved such projects being developed by OneWeb, Space Norway and Telesat.