1. Home
  2. Space
  3. News

Watch SpaceX nail the key stages of its latest Starlink launch

By

SpaceX sent another rocket up on Wednesday evening, the night sky lighting up as the Falcon 9 departed Cape Canaveral in Florida.

Recommended Videos

The June 3 launch was the latest one for SpaceX’s ambitious Starlink project aimed at providing broadband services for customers globally, and came just three days after its first astronaut launch using its Crew Dragon capsule.

Fifteen minutes after the Falcon 9 rocket left the pad, SpaceX deployed 60 more of its internet satellites into low Earth orbit. The arrival of the new batch means it now has a total of 480 satellites in operation as it continues preparations for a private beta of the broadband service in the months ahead.

For Wednesday’s outing, SpaceX tweeted video clips (below) showing each of the mission’s key stages, including the Falcon 9 rocket launch, the first-stage booster landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic, and of course the all-important satellite deployment.

We’re still waiting for news on whether SpaceX managed to catch the Falcon 9’s fairing, or nose cone, which comes down in two parts soon after lift-off. It uses ships with huge nets to catch the pieces, but the procedure has been proving tricky.

Here’s the Falcon 9 heading to space …

Next up, the moment the first-stage booster returned to Earth, making a perfect landing on the drone ship. SpaceX noted that the reusable Falcon 9 booster is the first one to achieve five landings.

A short while later, the 60 Starlink satellites deployed in a tightly packed configuration. Over the days ahead they’ll spread out in orbit. One of them is being used to test a special visor designed to eliminate the sun’s reflection. The issue that has been troubling astronomers as the glare could affect their exploration of deep space.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
SpaceX already has a date in mind for next Starship launch

SpaceX launched the mighty Starship for the first time in April last year, but it took a full seven months before it became airborne again.

Following the second test flight in November, SpaceX managed to get the Starship off the launchpad again just four months later in a spectacular flight that took place last week.

Read more
Take a high-speed ride on SpaceX’s emergency escape chute

SpaceX has put a Crew Dragon on Pad 40 at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida for the first time. This means that going forward, SpaceX will have two pads to choose from when sending astronauts to space.

Up to now, crews launching on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft lift off from Pad 39A at Kennedy, but having another launch site available gives NASA and SpaceX greater flexibility when planning missions by easing pressure on teams if scheduling issues and traffic conflicts arise.

Read more
SpaceX shares awesome rocket imagery from Starship flight

SpaceX’s third Starship test flight last Thursday was its best yet, far exceeding the first two missions, which took place last year and ended in huge fireballs just a few minutes in.

This time, the Starship -- comprising the first-stage Super Heavy booster and upper-stage Starship spacecraft -- kept on flying, with both parts reaching their destination points before breaking up on descent.

Read more