Space was supposed to do its 1st launch of 2021 on 18th January. The company planned to launch 60 Starlink satellites into orbit in this new launch. Since it would have been their first launch of 2021, the year would have started with a good note for the company. But, the Starlink launch got delayed amidst bad weather conditions and safety inspections. This is the second time that the launch of the 60 Starlink satellites got delayed. And now the company plans to do the launch on Wednesday at 8:02 am EST.
Elon’s aim with Starlink
Elon’s primary goal here is to create a network of Starlink satellites all over the Earth and provide seamless connectivity to everyone. The internet provided by the company will be not only fast but also cheap. So, for this to become a reality, Elon plans to launch at least 42,000 Starlink satellites to space. As of now, the company has launched around 1000 satellites into orbit, with the most recent one being the 17th launch for them. And the company plans to launch another 500-800 satellites before rolling out proper service for the same. The internet connectivity provided by Starlink will be 200 megabits in speed or even more.
Why was the Starlink launch delayed?
The main reason for the delay was the bad weather conditions. The launch of the satellites was supposed to take place from Florida’s Kennedy space center. SpaceX was going to reuse a Falcon 9 for the mission, which would hover back to Earth after reaching orbit. The company was using the B1051 booster in the launch, which has also been reused multiple times. With the latest Starlink launch and successful arrival back of the Falcon 9, it would have become the rockets 51st re-flight.
Now coming to the point that why the launch got delayed. Well, before the launch happened, the launch conditions were assessed. Initially, the weather was like 70% in favor of the launch, but that changed pretty quickly, leading to a delay. If not delayed, the launch would have happened on 18th January, 7:45 PM IST. It is good that the company hold off on the launch and not just went on with it by taking a chance. After the delay, Elon Musk tweeted, “to allow additional time for pre-launch inspections”. This shows that the company also delayed the launch so they could do some more inspections on the rocket and make sure everything is perfect.
Starlinks is already providing beta service in various places like the US, Europe, and Canada. And not all users or places in these countries are receiving service. Do you think that Starlink is the future of internet usage for humans? Do let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative do like it and share it with your friends.
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