SpaceX ready to launch its 5,000th Starlink satellite
SpaceX is preparing to launch another batch of its Starlink internet satellites. A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 satellites is set to lift off from Florida's Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 9:30pm EDT (7:00am IST, August 26). This milestone event will bring the total number of Starlink satellites in orbit to over 5,000, per satellite tracker Jonathan McDowell. The current Starlink count stands at 4,983.
Starlink satellites will be deployed about 65 minutes after launch
The Falcon 9 rocket's first stage is planned to return to Earth post-launch. It is planned to land on the SpaceX drone ship "Just Read the Instructions" about 8.5 minutes after lift-off. The upcoming Starlink launch will be the third launch and landing for this particular booster, per SpaceX. Meanwhile, the upper stage will continue its journey. It is scheduled to deploy the onboard 22 Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit (LEO) approximately 65 minutes after launch.
Starlink aims to provide global coverage via Starlink
SpaceX plans to launch several more Starlink satellites. The company has already secured permission to deploy 12,000 Starlink satellites in LEO and has applied for authorization to launch an additional 30,000 in the future. This ambitious expansion aims to provide global internet coverage, even to remote areas, through the rapidly growing Starlink network. India is also said to get Starlink's broadband connectivity soon.
Crew-7 mission pushed to August 26
In addition to the upcoming Starlink launch, SpaceX is gearing up for another mission, Crew-7. The crewed mission, carrying four astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), is set to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on August 26. The mission was originally supposed to launch today but was delayed to allow the teams to perform further analysis and preparations.
