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SpaceX has successfully sent 60 Starlink internet satellites aboard the Falcon 9.
The launch was Starlink’s first mission of the month. The Elon-musk owned space tech company has conducted sixteen missions this year.
“On Thursday, September 3 at 8:46 am (EDT), 12:46 (UTC), Falcon 9 successfully lifted off with the twelfth Starlink mission, carrying 60 Starlink satellites to orbit. Falcon 9 lifted off from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida,” SpaceX said in an official statement.
Falcon 9’s first stage of the mission was carried out in June with the launch of the GPS III Space Vehicle 03.
“Following stage separation, SpaceX will land Falcon 9’s first stage on the ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ droneship, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean,” it said.
The satellites are meant to provide ‘cheaper and faster’ internet to inaccessible areas. The satellites in its initial tests had provided over 100 Mbps speeds.
“Falcon 9 launches 60 Starlink satellites to orbit – Starlink will deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable, expensive, or completely unavailable,” SpaceX tweeted.
“In initial tests of Starlink, the team has been collecting latency data and performing standard speed tests of the system. Results from these tests have shown super low latency and download speeds greater than 100 mbps – fast enough to stream multiple HD movies at once and still have the bandwidth to spare,” it added.
The company is targeting the Northern United States and Canada for initial service in 2020. It will then expand internet coverage globally by 2021, it said.
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