spacetoday.net: SpaceX launches Starlink satellites

Posted: Sun, Apr 11, 2021, 11:31 AM ET (1531 GMT)
Falcon 9 launch of Starlink satellites, April 7 2021 (45th Space Wing)

SpaceX launched another set of Starlink satellites Wednesday as the company gets close to providing continuous global coverage. A Falcon 9 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:34 pm EDT (1634 GMT) and deployed the 60 Starlink satellites about an hour later. In a talk earlier this week at the LEO Digital Forum, SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said the company was a few launches away from providing continuous global coverage with Starlink, but would continue to launch satellites after that to add capacity. The FCC has yet to rule on a license modification that would allow SpaceX to fly more satellites in the 550-kilometer orbit currently used by the constellation. Shotwell added that SpaceX doesn't have a schedule for ending the ongoing beta test of the service as it works to improve the reliability of the network and lower the cost of the consumer terminals.