Miami – The aerospace transport company Spacex launched on Monday from the space of Cape Canaveral, in Florida, a fifth batch of 60 satellites of its Starlink project, with which it seeks to create its own high-speed internet network globally.
After I had to postpone takeoff this Sunday in the face of weather conditions, the space mission began smoothly today.
The Falcon 9 rocket took off without problems at the scheduled time and after the separation of its first stage, “unfortunately” landed on the Atlantic Ocean, very close to the maritime platform called “Of course I still love you,” where I was supposed to return, the company said.
Subsequently, about 45 minutes after takeoff, the two halves of the propeller fairing had to be recovered by two different ships of the company, which is mainly engaged in aerospace cargo transport for NASA or other private companies.
The objective of SpaceX, a company owned by Elon Musk, also the owner of the electric vehicle company Tesla, is to create a constellation of satellites that provide internet at speeds similar to those of broadband across the globe.
The aerospace company had already launched 240 satellites in four previous launches and aims to create a network of 12,000 Starlink satellites to offer global coverage and reach remote regions.
In a first phase, the company expects to be able to serve the northern US. and Canada this year, to reach almost all populated regions in 2021.
The satellites of this program orbit at 550 kilometers altitude, orA much shorter distance than the satellites currently offering this service, which implies a lower connection speed than that provided by Starlink.
The immersion in the Internet market of SpaceX aims to finance the arrival of man on Mars, longing for Musk.
The entrepreneur calculates that the internet business can generate income of $ 30,000 million annually, far from the 3,000 million currently produced with cargo transport.
To achieve the goal of Musk, at the beginning of last January SpaceX successfully carried out an unmanned test with the Crew Dragon capsule in its plan to launch the first commercial flights to space with humans.
Trips with the Crew Dragon manned are scheduled to begin in the near future with the shipment to the International Space Station (ISS) of NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley.
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