ONE SpaceX The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sunday from the Cape Canaveral Space Station on Florida’s east coast, carrying 51 Starlink internet satellites in orbit. Also on Starlink Group 4-20 was Sherpa-LTC2, a space tug provided by Seattle-based Spaceflight. The tug is carrying a payload for Boeing’s Varuna Technology Demonstration Mission (Varuna-TDM), which is “aimed at testing V-band communications for a proposed constellation of 147 non-geostationary broadband satellites,” according to SpaceNews (opens in new tab) . The first Sherpa-LTC orbital transport vehicle was pulled from a SpaceX launch opportunity in January 2022 due to a propellant leak, SpaceNews added.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 51 Starlink Internet satellites and the Sherpa-LTC2 space tug from the Cape Canaveral Space Station in Florida on September 4, 2022. (Image credit: SpaceX) (opens in new tab) Sunday’s flight plan called for SpaceX to bring the Falcon 9 rocket’s first stage back to Earth for a soft landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was in the Atlantic Ocean. The landing – the seventh for this booster – happened as planned, about 8.5 minutes after launch. Sherpa-LTC2 deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage about 49 minutes after liftoff, and the Starlinks followed suit 23 minutes later, SpaceX confirmed via Twitter (opens in new tab). SpaceX has already sent more than 3,000 Starlink satellites into orbit in an effort to create a massive constellation for broadband services aimed at remote areas. SpaceX has already launched more than 25 Starlink-centric missions in 2022. Sunday’s launch was SpaceX’s 40th of the year and continued to add to the Starlink megaconstellation. SpaceX has approval to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites and has asked an international regulator to commend an additional 30,000. In late August, the founder and CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk announced plans to bring direct connectivity to smartphones using Starlink, in conjunction with T-Mobile. Another deal announced on Tuesday (August 30) will see the Starlink service broadcast on Royal Caribbean cruise ships. Follow Elizabeth Howell on Twitter @howellspace (opens in new tab). Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or Facebook (opens in a new tab).
