Skip to main content

SpaceX nails first Starlink launch since its internet service went global

After several postponed launches last week due to poor weather conditions, SpaceX finally got to launch its Starlink 4-34 mission, successfully deploying another 54 of its internet satellites in low-Earth orbit. The mission was the first since the company revealed last week that its Starlink internet service is now serving customers on all seven continents.

SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9 rocket launched from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:18 p.m. ET on Sunday, September 18. You can see the rocket climbing into the night sky in the video below.

Related Videos
Starlink Mission

As usual, a short while after launch, the Falcon 9’s first-stage booster made a perfect landing on a drone ship waiting in the Atlantic Ocean.

Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Just Read the Instructions droneship pic.twitter.com/qXvgp8kMeH

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 19, 2022

The successful landing means the booster can be used for another launch, adding to its growing list of flights that already includes the CRS-22, Crew-3, Turksat 5B, Crew-4, and CRS-25 missions.

SpaceX now has more than 3,000 Starlink satellites in orbit, providing broadband connectivity to more than half a million customers in some 40 countries.

Last week the U.S. National Science Foundation announced it was testing Starlink’s “polar service” at McMurdo Station around 2,200 miles south of New Zealand, enabling those working at the remote outpost to access improved bandwidth and connectivity for science support work.

The announcement confirmed for the first time that Starlink now reaches Antarctica, an achievement that means it now has customers across all seven continents.

SpaceX later shared the news on Twitter, saying in a post: “Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink’s space laser network.”

Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink's space laser network https://t.co/c9HX0xrX0u

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2022

SpaceX has recently been expanding its internet service beyond residential homes in a bid to reach even more people, launching Starlink Maritime for people on ships and boats, and sealing a deal with Hawaiian Air as it begins exploring ways to take the service to the airline industry.

SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said previously he believes Starlink could one day generate up to $50 billion in annual revenue if the service succeeds in securing even just a few percent of the global telecommunications market. It still has a long way to go, but the company appears to be heading in the right direction as its seeks to reach that goal.

Editors' Recommendations

NASA and SpaceX Crew-6 mission ready for launch tonight
From left, NASA astronauts Warren “Woody” Hoburg and Stephen Bowen, along with Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev and UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, prepare to depart the Neil A. Armstrong Operations and Checkout Building at Kennedy Space Center in Florida during a dress rehearsal for NASA’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission launch on Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023.

NASA and SpaceX are ready to launch four astronauts to the International Space Station, with preparations underway and launch scheduled for late tonight PT. The Crew-6 mission is set to launch at 1:45 a.m. ET on Monday, February 27 (10:45 p.m. PT on Sunday, February 26) from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida using a SpaceX Cargo Dragon and Falcon 9 rocket.

In a press conference following a readiness review on Saturday, February 25, NASA officials said that the crew and hardware had been given the go-ahead. "We had a good launch readiness review and we're on track for the 27 launch," said Dana Weigel, deputy manager of the International Space Station Program at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. "This morning I had a chance to talk to the crew. They're doing great. Spirits are high and they are ready to go."

Read more
Watch NASA’s trailer for SpaceX’s Crew-6 astronaut launch
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying the Crew-4 astronauts launching from the Kennedy Space Center.

NASA and SpaceX are making their final preparations for the first crewed launch from U.S. soil to the International Space Station (ISS) since October 2022.

Traveling aboard the Crew Dragon Endeavour spacecraft early on Monday will be NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg, United Arab Emirates astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev.

Read more
SpaceX confirms readiness for launch of most powerful rocket
SpaceX's Super Heavy and Starship.

A senior SpaceX official has said that following a successful static-fire test of the Super Heavy’s engines, the next-generation rocket is ready for its first orbital test flight.

Gary Henry, SpaceX's senior director for national security space solutions, said at this week’s Space Mobility conference in Orlando, Florida, that the engine test two weeks ago was “the last box to check” ahead of the rocket’s maiden test flight.

Read more