SpaceX launches 2021’s first Starlink satellites, bringing total to more than 1,000

SpaceX launched the new year’s first batch of Starlink satellites into orbit early Wednesday.

A Falcon 9 rocket with the payload packed inside launched on time at 8:02 a.m. from Kennedy Space Center’s 39A launch pad to deploy about 60 of the small satellites, bringing the number of Starlink satellites in space to more than 1,000.

About eight minutes after launch, SpaceX also recovered the rocket’s booster, which has now flown eight times, a record. It was used for two launches in 2019, four Starlink deployments in 2020 and to deliver a satellite for SiriusXM at the end of last year.

The launch was originally scheduled for Monday but postponed twice.

SpaceX founder Elon Musk had said he hoped to have 1,500 in orbit by the end of 2020 but didn’t reach that goal. The company first began sending up the satellites in May 2019.

The purpose of the growing satellite constellation is to provide fast, affordable internet to even remote parts of the planet. For “near-global coverage of the populated world,” SpaceX has been approved by the Federal Communications Commission to operate 12,000 of them and has sought approval for an additional 42,000.

The first users, public beta testers of the system, are mostly located in the Northwestern United States. SpaceX has received the green light to begin testing in Canada and the English countryside.

Right now the service is priced at $99 a month, plus an upfront $499 to order the Starlink kit, which includes a WiFi router and a terminal to connect to the satellites nicknamed “Dishy” by the company.

cglenn@orlandosentinel.com