Magnus B - Space Coast West @spacecoastwest 6:35 AM · Mar 17, 2026
Falcon 9 launches the Starlink 17-24 mission carrying another batch of 25 Starlink satellites to low earth orbit from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
https://twitter.com/spacecoastwest/status/2033779166538305793Jonathan McDowell @planet4589 6:28 AM · Mar 17, 2026
Falcon 9 now in parking orbit. There are now 10020 Starlinks in orbit (although 25 of them are still attached to the Falcon 9 for another 50 min or so, until the stage's circularization burn and satellite deployment).
https://twitter.com/planet4589/status/2033777436991570288SpaceX reaches 10,000 simultaneous Starlink satellites in orbit following Falcon 9 launch from CaliforniaMarch 16, 2026 Will Robinson-Smith
Update March 17, 3:10 a.m. EDT (0710 UTC): SpaceX confirms satellite deployment.
SpaceX crossed the threshold of having more than 10,000 Starlink satellites in low Earth orbit simultaneously for the first time. The milestone comes less than seven years after launching its first batch of satellites in May 2019.
Coincidently, the Monday night launch also coincided with the 100th anniversary of Robert Goddard’s launch of the first liquid-propelled rocket, which was fueled by gasoline. A century later, SpaceX’s Monday night launch of a Falcon 9 rocket was the 615th flight of this kerosene-fueled rocket. (...)
A little more than eight minutes after liftoff, B1088 landed on the drone ship, ‘Of Course I Still Love,’ positioned in the Pacific Ocean. This was the 184th landing on this vessel and the 586th booster landing for SpaceX to date. (...)
10,000 and countingThe sheer volume of SpaceX’s Starlink constellation puts it in a league of its own. The company has been averaging a launch every 2.3 days in 2026, with 26 out of its 33 Falcon 9 rocket launches this year sending Starlink satellites into orbit.
As of February 13, 2026, SpaceX said its Starlink service had more than 10 million active customers “across 160 countries, territories and many other markets.” In the month since reaching that milestone, it announced the activation of Starlink connectivity in Niue, Kuwait, and the Central African Republic.
Back in October 2025, after SpaceX crossed the threshold of 10,000 Starlink satellites launched to date — it had about 8,600 satellites concurrently in orbit at the time — expert orbital tracker and X-ray astronomer Dr. Jonathan McDowell described reaching that milestone as “truly remarkable.” (...)
This year, SpaceX is expected to start launching its much larger Starlink Version 3 satellites, using its massive Starship rocket. There’s no public launch date for when that first deployment will happen since the company is still testing out its Starship Version 3 rocket to launch for the first time.
Back in October, Henry said that Quilty forecast as many as eight Starship launches with Starlink satellites during 2026.“The V3 version of Starship is supposed to be able to lift 100 metric tons to orbit and we see that as really unlocking the V3 version of the satellite, which is going to be heavier, which is going to have a terabit of capacity, just by far and away more than any other low Earth orbit satellite out there,” Henry said.
https://spaceflightnow.com/2026/03/16/live-coverage-spacex-to-launch-25-starlink-satellites-on-falcon-9-rocket-from-california/
Wątek: Falcon-9R B1088.14 | Starlink Group 17-24 | 17.03.2026 (Przeczytany 6496 razy)