Orlando FL (UPI) Jan 19, 2022 SpaceX successfully launched 49 Starlink satellites from Florida on...
SpaceX successfully launched 49 Starlink satellites from Florida on Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of Starlinks launched to over 2,000.
Only 1,741 of the broadband Internet communications satellites were still in orbit before the launch, SpaceX founder and CEO Elon Musk said on Twitter.
The first-stage rocket booster on Tuesday's launch has been used nine times before, six of which were also Starlink missions, according to SpaceX. SpaceX successfully recovered the booster after launch on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean, making it the second such booster to be flown and recovered 10 times.
The Starlink network is designed to provide high-speed Internet access to customers in remote areas, but also is available in many major cities.
SpaceX eventually wants to deploy thousands more satellites, which has raised concerns about space debris and interruptions to astronomy observations.
SpaceX has made adjustments to make the satellites less visible, including visors that shield the spacecraft from sunlight, but astronomers are still concerned, McDowell said.
The visors "Did make some improvement to the astronomy situation; what isn't clear yet is how bright the new generation" of Starlink satellites are, he said.
A new paper published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters on Friday by the American Astronomical Society reported a growing impact of Starlink on astronomy.
Certain types of observations made at the Palomar Observatory in California had 5,301 streaks from Starlink satellites in them, from November 2019 to September, according to the paper.
SpaceX plans to launch 49 Starlink satellites from Florida on Tuesday evening, bringing the total number of Starlinks launched to over 2,000.