Today SpaceX has launched a Falcon 9 rocket carrying 21 Starlink satellites- 13 of which can beam service directly to cellphones. The rocket was lifted from NASA Kennedy Space Center in Florida today at 12:35 AM EDT (0535 MT). SpaceX officially announced on the X platform that Falcon 9 has successfully delivered 21 Starlink satellites to the constellation.
Falcon 9 lifts off from pad 39A in Florida, delivering 21 @Starlink satellites to the constellation pic.twitter.com/izxmtsgB65
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) December 23, 2024
Falcon 9’s first stage came back to Earth as planned touching down in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after the launch of SpaceX droneship “Just Read the Instructions”. The 21 Starlink satellites delivered to low Earth orbit will be deployed about 65 minutes after launch. According to a SpaceX mission description, this was the 15th liftoff and landing for this particular booster.
This Starlink launch was the 129th Falcon 9 mission of this year and about two-thirds of those flights were devoted to building out the Starlink broadband mega constellation, which currently consists of more than 6800 active satellites.
A few days back SpaceX’s US cellphone partner, T-mobile opened the beta registrations for text messaging service via the direct-to-cell Starlink satellites and this beta service is said to go into operation in early 2025.
Stay tuned with The Tech Outlook for more latest updates.
