SpaceX eyes to launch Starlink satellites fifth time in one month

SpaceX test-fired a Falcon 9 rocket at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center on July 23 in preparation for liftoff on July 24 with the company’s next batch of 53 Starlink internet satellites.

Test-firings on the launch pad were once a customary part of every SpaceX launch campaign, but the company is phasing out the static fire tests for most missions as the Falcon 9 launch cadence has ramped up to an average of one flight per week, Interfax reports referring to Spaceflight Now website.

Just a few hours after launching a Falcon 9 rocket with 46 Starlink broadband satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, SpaceX rolled another Falcon 9 to pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center Friday to prep for launch on July 24 with another 53 internet relay nodes.

But first, SpaceX’s launch team readied the rocket for a static fire test on July 23 morning.

The Falcon 9 will climb away from pad 39A and head northeast over the Atlantic Ocean, flying on a course parallel to the US East Coast.

It should be the 54th launch of Starlink satellites since May 2019 as part of the Starlink project and the 5th this month.
SpaceX has launched 2,904 Starlink satellites going into Sunday’s mission, including prototypes and earlier spacecraft designs no longer in service. About 2,600 satellites remain in orbit in working condition.

After separating from the upper stage at the edge of space, the Falcon 9’s first stage will arc toward SpaceX’s drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” parked about 400 miles (650 kilometers) downrange in the Atlantic Ocean.

The company says its Starlink broadband service is currently available in 36 countries around the world including North America, Europe, the Far East and Australia. According to the Pentagon sources, the services of these satellites are also actively used by the US military.