SpaceX successfully launches two first internet satellites

SpaceX has successfully launched the first two Internet satellites intended for a large satellite network for high-speed broadband Internet. The primary payload, a Spanish radar satellite, has also successfully entered low Earth orbit.

The live feed of the launch showed that the Spanish Paz satellite has been successfully disconnected. There are no images of the disconnection of the two internet satellites. The second stage of the Falcon 9 rocket was aware that the two internet satellites were disconnected, no longer within range of a ground station.

Minutes after the successful launch from the launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the decoupling of the first rocket stage and fairing also went well. SpaceX is trying to collect the fairing, the precious top shell in which the satellites were transported, so that it can be reused for the next launch. The launch was postponed several times due to high winds.

The two SpaceX satellites are intended to test the different systems and see if the design is suitable for broadband internet. According to the plan, this will eventually require nearly 12,000 satellites. 4425 satellites arrive at an altitude of about 1100 to 1300km, with another 7,500 satellites in lower Earth orbits. The Falcon 9 reusable rocket launches will last until 2024. The revenues from this network should help fund SpaceX’s Mars missions.