The holidays season has finished, and SpaceX backed to work vigorously with the beginning of 2022. SpaceX will start its launch schedule on Thursday with Falcon 9 rocket. The next group of Elon Musk‘s Starlink internet satellites will be launched from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center. The lunch will begin at 4:49 p.m. EST (2149 GMT).
Unlike the previous mission, the rocket will fly southeast from the coast of Florida on a track to the north of the Bahamas. Then to travel a few hundred miles above Earth into low Earth orbit.
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Starlink 4-5 mission, is expected to target with a tilt of 53.2 degrees to the equator in the orbit. SpaceX plans to set around 4,400 satellites in orbital “shells” at five different inclination angles. That will provide high-speed and low-latency broadband connectivity around the world.
SpaceX didn’t mention why the Falcon 9 rocket will take the southeasterly course this time, not even the numbers of Starlink satellites that will be on board.
During every mission, Falcon 9 have carried between 48 and 53 satellites. Till now, SpaceX has launched 1,944 Starlink satellites, and with the next mission, the number will be close to 2,000. Huge number, right? But not all of them are really working. Some of them have failed after launch, due to technical problems. Other old satellites were deactivated as newer designs reach orbit.
By using the profit of Starlink business, SpaceX hopes to fund Elon Musk’s ambitions to develop the heavy-lift Starship rocket. Which is a massive fully reusable launcher that will take place of the Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.
