Elon Musk-led space company SpaceX has launched 143 satellites via one spacecraft on Sunday, and has therefore set a new record for deploying the most number of spaceships on a single mission. The record was made as the company sent its Falcon 9 rocket. This has now beaten the previously set record of India sending […]
Elon Musk-led space company SpaceX has launched 143 satellites via one spacecraft on Sunday, and has therefore set a new record for deploying the most number of spaceships on a single mission. The record was made as the company sent its Falcon 9 rocket. This has now beaten the previously set record of India sending 104 satellites in 2017.
According to BBC, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket left the surface at 10 a.m. EST from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida. The rocket carried 143 payloads of all shapes and sizes, and was launched for space orbit.
Also Read: Tesla is Hiring Support Staff to Handle Elon Musk’s Twitter Complaints
In a series of tweets, the company claimed that 10 satellites on the Falcon are the newest additions to Musk’s Starlink telecommunications mega-constellation that will deliver broadband internet connections around countries. Other 133 satellites taken by Falcon 9 were commercial. Among these satellites, 48 belonged to San Francisco’s Planet company. These satellites will be placed in polar orbit. By the end of 2021, it is likely that broadband internet connection will be all around the world.
According to Financial Express, SpaceX has been offering to transport packages to space for $1 million, thus giving further impetus to commercial opportunities for other players as well. This also indicates a major structural change as far as space activities are concerned. It is to note that usually, the radar satellites were much bigger in size. But now, the revolutionary changes and adoption of new and compact materials have allowed size reduction of these satellites to a major extent. That is the reason why the Falcon rocket was
able to carry these many satellites to space. Some radars are as small as the size of a briefcase.
On January 22, Elon Musk had announced in a tweet that the company will be “launching many small satellites for a wide range of customers tomorrow. Excited about offering low-cost access to orbit for small companies.” However, the launch had been delayed by one day, due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Also Read: Elon Musk is Now Targeting This New Business