SpaceX wraps up Starlink launches for May

Starlink launches in May 2023

Starlink satellites are equipped with optical space lasers (pew pew), which allow us to provide truly global coverage and serve customers in the most remote locations on Earth https://t.co/wO3qqX9RyA??? https://t.co/FrMIjHgVmv

— Starlink (@Starlink) May 31, 2023

Starlink Group 2-10: May 31, 2023, 6:02 UTC (2:02 a.m. EDT)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg SFB, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 6-3: May 18, 2023, 4:41 UTC (12:41 a.m. EDT)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 5-9: May 14, 2023, 5:03 UTC (1:03 a.m. EDT)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 2-9: May 10, 2023, 17:09 UTC (1:09 p.m. EDT)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg SFB, California | SUCCESS

Starlink Group 5-6: May 4, 2023, 7:31 UTC (3:31 a.m. EDT)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | SUCCESS

You can check back here or go directly to SpaceX’s YouTube channel for a livestream of the launch. Livestreams typically begin about five minutes before liftoff.

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 February 2023, Starlink consists of over 3,580 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that communicate with designated ground transceivers. They provide internet access to more than one 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 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’s fifth and final Starlink launch for the month took flight from California at 6:02 UTC on May 31, 2023.

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

Via Space Launch Schedule