With this launch, SpaceX has surpassed its achievement of 31 launches into space in 2021 and the figure is expected to continue to increase in 2022.
SpaceX has successfully sent 46 new satellites from its Starlink project into space. After a failed attempt, Elon Musk ‘s company managed to put the ship carrying the next batch of devices needed for its satellite Internet program into orbit , thus surpassing the 31 launches it recorded as a record last year.
The launch consisted of two stages. The first occurred on July 21 , the date on which the Falcon 9 rocket for this mission could not go into outer space and the takeoff count was paused at T-46 seconds. The next day, July 22, SpaceX finally launched this spacecraft from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, United States .
The takeoff occurred at 12:40 pm Peru time (10:40 am local time at the place of takeoff) on a day with intense fog for the west coast of the North American country.
Deployment of 46 Starlink satellites confirmed – completing SpaceX’s 32nd mission of 2022!
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 22, 2022
SpaceX claims another record with Starlink
As was well mentioned, this SpaceX launch marks the company’s 32nd so far in 2022 . With this takeoff, it has managed to surpass its record of 31 launches in 2021 and, at the accelerated rate at which the Starlink project is going , the final number of launches is likely to become a new milestone for the company.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 also ended its mission by landing on the “Of Course I Still Love You” drone , which was specifically designated to be the resting place in the Pacific Ocean about 8.5 minutes after the rocket’s launch.
This 32nd launch of the year ended up looking like the one SpaceX also did to send another collection of 46 Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Base on July 11 . Just as it finally happened on this occasion, this set of 46 devices was put into orbit and the rocket successfully landed on the unmanned spacecraft.
Tracking cam footage from today’s Falcon 9 launch of Starlink pic.twitter.com/771gLqbm9t
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 22, 2022
Spacex and the scale of Starlink
So far in 2022, SpaceX has sent many more batches of Starlink satellites off our planet. The most recent behind the 32nd attempt was the one carried out at the Cape Canaveral Space Force base in Florida, United States last Sunday , July 17 .
Currently, the Starlink project has more than 2,800 individual satellites in Earth orbit, all with the intention of deploying and expanding the Internet service that Elon Musk and company want to offer through the signal of these devices to its maximum capacity.
To do this, what SpaceX wants to do is expand the Starlink constellation as quickly as possible and it already has regulatory approval from the corresponding US authorities that allow it to send 12,000 satellites into space. After this, the firm would seek the approval of 30,000 more satellites from the international regulator that oversees this issue.