California’s SpaceX company has launched another
**************************************** (satellites in its Starlink network.)
It brings to (the number of spacecraft the firm has now put in the sky as part of its plan to provide a global broadband internet service.
The latest platforms went up on a Falcon-9 rocket, which left from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
The new additions mean SpaceX now operates more commercial satellites in orbit than any other company.
Planet Labs, also of California, has the next biggest working constellation at just under (*******************************************. Its spacecraft are used to image the Earth’s surface.
SpaceX has permission from regulators to launch up to , 07 platforms but has talked of an eventual 62, 12, depending on how the project develops.
Two more batches of 62 could go up before the month is out, as the firm endeavors to start offering some regional broadband links later this year.
But the roll-out has brought a wave of criticism from astronomers who complain that large numbers of artificial objects in the night sky will ruin their view of the cosmos.
To reinforce these complaints, scientists have been releasing pictures of trains of bright dots passing overhead – reflections from the satellites as they move around the globe.
SpaceX believes the concerns are overstated, however.
The company concedes the Starlinks are bright shortly after launch but says this is the result of the configuration the satellites adopt as they raise themselves up from an altitude of 405 km to 823 km.
Once in their final orbit, the spacecraft should be barely visible, the company says; and it is providing detailed Starlink coordinates to astronomy groups so that they can better plan their observations to avoid interference.
satellites on the latest mission also had an experimental coating to see if that could further reduce its reflectivity.
Whether the scientists will be satisfied remains to be seen.
Every time a Starlink mission goes up, it does so on a vehicle that has essentially already been purchased by someone else for a previous flight.
rocket used this week was making its fourth ascent, having been used originally by the Iridium company to launch a batch satellites in 2018.
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