SpaceX sent a space tug with another large batch of its Starlink Internet satellites on Sunday night (Sept. 4) and also landed a rocket on a ship at sea.
A SpaceX The Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Sunday from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station on Florida’s east coast, carrying 51 people. Starlink internet satellites to orbit.
Also on board with Starlink Group 4-20 was Sherpa-LTC2, a space tug provided by the Seattle company Spaceflight. The tug is carrying a payload for Boeing’s Varuna Technology Demonstration Mission (Varuna-TDM), which “aims to test V-band communications for a proposed constellation of 147 broadband non-geostationary satellites,” according to SpaceNews (opens in a new tab).
The first Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle was withdrawn from a SpaceX launch opportunity in January 2022 due to a propellant leak, SpaceNews added.
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation launches in photos
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 51 Starlink Internet satellites and the Sherpa-LTC2 space tug from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on September 4, 2022. (Image credit: SpaceX) (opens in a new tab)
Sunday’s flight plan called for SpaceX to return the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket to Earth for a soft landing on the Just Read the Instructions droneship, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean. The landing, the seventh for this particular booster, occurred as planned, about 8.5 minutes after launch.
Sherpa-LTC2 deployed from the Falcon 9’s upper stage about 49 minutes after liftoff, and the Starlinks followed suit 23 minutes later, SpaceX confirmed via Twitter (Opens in a new tab new).
SpaceX has already sent more than 3,000 Starlink satellites into orbit, in an effort to create a large constellation for broadband service aimed at remote areas. SpaceX has already launched more than 25 Starlink-focused missions by 2022.
Sunday’s launch was SpaceX’s 40th of the year and continued to add to the Starlink megaconstellation. SpaceX has approval to launch 12,000 Starlink satellites and has asked an international regulator to give the thumbs up to 30,000 more.
In late August, founder and CEO of SpaceX Elon Musk announced plans to bring connectivity directly to smartphones via Starlink, along with T-Mobile. Another deal announced on Tuesday (August 30) will see Starlink service carried over to Royal Caribbean cruises.
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