SpaceX will launch a new set of Starlink Satellites this Monday, Feb 21.
SpaceX is supposed to be launching Falcon 9 with 49 satellites on Sunday (Feb. 20). However, it will be moved on Feb. 21 at 9:44 a.m. EST due to weather conditions.
SpaceX's Starlink broadband spacecraft is scheduled to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. SpaceX tweeted, "due to recovery weather, now targeting Monday, February 21 at 9:44 a.m. EST for the launch of Starlink".
Due to recovery weather, now targeting Monday, February 21 at 9:44 a.m. EST for launch of Starlink
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) February 19, 2022
Starlink Satellite Mission
On top of the Falcon 9 spacecraft are 49 satellites deployed on the low orbit in this Monday's launch with SpaceX's Starlink. Space Launch Complex 40 will serve as the launchpad for Falcon 9. The launch also includes a planned rocket landing.
According to Space.com, the rocket landing will consist of "about nine minutes after liftoff, the Falcon 9's first stage will come back down to Earth for a vertical touchdown on SpaceX's drone ship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which will be stationed in the Atlantic Ocean a few hundred miles off the Florida coast."
When completed, this current Starlink mission will be the 36th operational Starlink mission, bringing the total number of Starlink satellites launched to 2,140, with 1,926 of those satellites still in orbit around the Earth after they were first deployed.
Starlink is a branch of services that SpaceX created. Starlink provides fast and low-latency internet service through the use of Starlink satellites. As of the moment, Starlink internet services are currently available in selected regions and countries only.
SpaceX's Falcon 9
According to EverydayAstronaut.com, the launch and landing will be the 11th time this particular Falcon 9 first stage has been launched and landed.
The reuse record, which was previously set by a different Falcon 9 core during a Starlink launch in December, will be tied with this launch. SpaceX has always boasted that Falcon 9 is a reusable rocket.
Nonetheless, SpaceX already had three major launches of their Starlink this year. The company launched two sets of satellites in January and another one last Feb. 3.
However, SpaceX's launch last Feb. 3 faced serious problems due to the geomagnetic storm here on Earth.
The Future for SpaceX's Starlink
As reported by Space.com, from NASA's Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, SpaceX also launched 49 Starlink satellites last (Feb.3).
Unfortunately, a geomagnetic storm above Earth tremendously affected the successful launch of the satellites. The storm affected most of the satellites that led to some of it crashing.
It is reported that "geomagnetic storms occur when intense solar wind near Earth spawns shifting currents and plasmas in Earth's magnetosphere."
The company has successfully launched 2,100 Starlink satellites to orbit and still continuously plans to deploy more of Starlink's satellites.
SpaceX has been granted permission to launch 12,000 Starlink spacecraft and has applied to an international regulator to launch up to 30,000 satellites.
SpaceX's Falcon 9 launch can be watched live on the official Starlink YouTube channel below.
