Yesterday SpaceX had a successful orbital deployment of another 60 of its Starlink satellites. While SpaceX eventually plans to have 12,000 Starlink satellites in orbit above the Earth in order to provide wireless internet to rural locations across the globe, even with its most recent deployment, there are just over 120 satellites in orbit right now.
Still, simply deploying another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit is no small feat, and as always SpaceX documents the journey with some stunning videography on Twitter. In the first tweet below you can see the moment the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket took off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with the 60 Starlink satellites onboard.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/Rz6Y4EnEnM
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2019
Next is some pretty impressive video of the main engine cutoff and stage separation . . .
Main engine cutoff and stage separation confirmed; second stage engine burn underway pic.twitter.com/r8zAXaXHQh
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2019
Followed by the deployment of the fairing . . .
Fairing has deployed—second time for this particular fairing pic.twitter.com/FdDIAGcHqI
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2019
And the actual deployment of the 60 Starlink satellites!
Successful deployment of 60 Starlink satellites confirmed! pic.twitter.com/bpBqO9oYR3
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2019
Finally, here’s when the Falcon 9 rocket re-landed back on Earth.
Falcon 9 first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship – the fourth launch and landing of this booster pic.twitter.com/qQvH7pwMDO
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2019
You can check out the full two-hour-plus live stream of the mission below.
Watch live as Falcon 9 launches 60 Starlink satellites to space https://t.co/zuGjcEjNaY
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) November 11, 2019