SpaceX Starlink launches for July resume after mishap

Falcon 9 returns to flight and delivers 23 @Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit pic.twitter.com/lLUk0ADIwY

— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 27, 2024

Update: After an in-flight failure on July 11, 2024, the FAA grounded SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Falcon 9 is the rocket used to boost Starlink satellites into space. After two weeks, the Falcon 9 returned to flight on July 27 as it delivered 23 Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida.

Past SpaceX Starlink launches in July 2024

Starlink Group 9-4: July 28, 2024, 2:22 a.m. PDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Station, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 10-4: July 28, 2024, 1:09 a.m. EDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 10-9: July 27, 2024, 1:45 a.m. EDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 9-3: July 11, 2024, 7:35 p.m. PDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg Space Force Station, California | FAILURE

Starlink Group 8-9: July 3, 2024, 4:55 a.m. EDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida | SUCCESS

You can watch a livestream of the Starlink launches on SpaceX’s X account.

Watch this space for updates!

After launch, look for a train of lights

Following every Starlink launch, the internet buzzes with people asking:

What’s that long line of lights in the sky that looks like a train?

What you’re seeing is the Starlink satellites moving into a higher orbit. You can check to see if they will pass over your area using the Find Starlink website.

Growing numbers amid controversy

According to Wikipedia, as of early March 2024, Starlink consists of over 6,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that communicate with designated ground transceivers. They provide internet access to more than 2 million subscribers.

Love ’em or hate ’em, these Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s vision for a global internet communication satellite constellation. They deliver high-speed internet service worldwide, mainly to locations where ground-based internet is unreliable, unavailable or expensive. The private company is well-known for launching batches back-to-back, several times a month, regularly lofting up to 60 satellites at a time. And SpaceX plans to build up to perhaps as many as 30,000 eventually.

Most thought it was exciting to see the first few Starlink satellites traveling together in the night sky. But then more were launched, and then more. And astronomers began to worry.

Because Starlinks are bright, astronomers say they’re photobombing astronomical images. Therefore, they have the potential to interfere with the professional astronomical observations that have brought us our modern-day view of the cosmos. And although SpaceX has tried to address the issue, they remain far from what astronomers say is acceptable.

Bottom line: SpaceX Starlink launches were temporarily grounded after an in-flight failure with the second stage of a Falcon 9 rocket. On July 27, Falcon 9 returned to flight with a successful launch of Starlink from Florida.

Read more from EarthSky: Starlink satellites can look like a plume or train of light

Via Next Spaceflight