Space X Launches 60 Satellites with Plans to Send More

The private rocket company of the tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, SpaceX has successfully launched its first batch of 60 small satellites recently into the low-Earth orbit for the new Starlink Internet service.

On Friday, a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the 60 small satellites blasted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station at about 10:30 pm (0230 GMT), thus clearing an important hurdle for a business venture that Elon Musk hopes, will generate much-needed cash for his larger ambitions into space.

The launch came after a week of two attempts when the launch has to be scrubbed, once because of high winds over the Cape and the next, in order to update the satellite software and ‘triple-check’ all its systems.

The 60 satellites flown into space were successfully released into the orbit as planned within an hour of its launch and the Falcon 9’s reusable booster rocket flew back to Earth and made its successful landing on a barge, floating in the Atlantic.

SpaceX meanwhile has said it would take one more day to find out whether all the 60 satellites deployed on the orbit were functioning properly. Each satellite weighs about 500 pounds, making them the heaviest payload carried aloft by SpaceX till date.

The satellites represent the initial phase of a planned constellation, which are capable of beaming signals for high-speed Internet service from space to the customers across the world.

Elon Musk has said expressed his happiness on the successful landing of the satellites, as he sees the Starlink venture as an important revenue stream for his California-based Space Exploration Technologies popularly known as SpaceX. He expects the launch service income will be around $3 billion a year.

Speaking to reporters last week, Elon Musk said this mission is important for him as he sees, Starlink to play a pivotal role in helping him pay for his dream projects of developing a new spacecraft, which will fly paying customers to the moon and in the course of time try to colonize the planet Mars.

Musk, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Automaker Tesla said, “We think this is a key stepping stone on the way towards establishing a self-sustaining city on Mars and a base on the moon”.

He also said that at least 12 such launches carrying similar payloads are needed to achieve his aim of constant internet coverage for the world. His aim is to launch as many as 2,000 satellites every year, with the ultimate goal of placing up to 12,000 satellites into the orbit.