Image: SpaceX
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Starlink 3
SpaceX · Falcon 9 Block 5 · Space Launch Complex 40, Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA
SpaceX's 91st launch · 3rd this year · humanity's 5,928th orbital launch attempt
The launch vehicle successfully inserted its payload(s) into the target orbit(s).
Window: Jan 29, 14:06 – Jan 29, 14:06 UTC
Flight preview
Starlink 3
Second operational Starlink payload of 2020 and third overall. The Falcon 9 launch vehicle will carry a batch of 60 Starlink satellites that will be insterted in a Low Earth Orbit (LEO) at an altitude of 290 km (180 mi) and an inclination of 53°. They will then split into three orbital planes and raise their orbits to reach an operational altitude of 550 km (342 mi). The Starlink LEO constellation aims to provide worldwide affordable satellite internet access. 182 satellites (120 operational) have been deployed so far, the goal scheduled for the mid-2020s being 12,000 satellites in orbit, with a possible later extension to 42,000. The booster for this launch will be B1051, a Block 5 generation core which previously flew on SpaceX's Demonstration Mission 1 (first Crew Dragon test flight) and launched the Canadian Space Agency's RADARSAT Constellation.
Communications · Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Booster
- B1051 · flight 3 · Autonomous Spaceport Drone Ship @ Of Course I Still Love You · landed ✓ · last flew Falcon 9 Block 5 | RADARSAT Constellation · zone record 209/217
Watch
- Starlink Mission — SpaceX
