Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched 48 Starlink satellites into orbit by a two-stage Falcon 9. The action happened from Cape Canaveral Space Force station in Florida on Wednesday.
“Another 48 Starlinks just reached orbit,” Musk announced in a tweet.
Another 48 Starlinks just reached orbit https://t.co/BLb2x69lvQ
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 9, 2022
During a live stream of the launch, SpaceX’s launch director told: “Time to let the American broomstick fly and hear the sounds of freedom.”
The takeoff was organized at Russian space agency chief Dmitry Rogozin, who had last week announced “let them fly on something else, their broomstick’s,” after Russia stopped sales of its rocket engines to US launch houses amid economic penalties after that country’s attack on Ukraine on February 24. Roscosmos also revoked technical support.
The unnamed SpaceX launch chief was talking a minute before the rocket was launched. Starlink is the biggest constellation of satellites in orbit, with 2,000 a few hundred miles above the Earth, serving jointly to give internet to remote areas. The additional SpaceX launches, the better the global coverage, and the company has asked for authorization to put over 30,000 in space in the arriving decades.
Starlink services have also been initiated in Ukraine. Elon Musk had on February 26 announced that Starlink satellite broadband service had been generated in Ukraine after the country’s Vice Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov pleaded with him to furnish satellite-based communications to enable combat Russia’s invasion.
“Starlink service is now effective in Ukraine,” Musk tweeted, further saying “more terminals en route, Musk had tweeted.
