On February 17 , 2020 , SpaceX launched their Falcon 9 Eruca sativa carry 60 young Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , Florida , just 63 day after its previous flight . Although this latest batch of high - speeding net satellites were successfully placed into orbit , the same can not be enunciate of the rocket booster .
alternatively of land back on SpaceX ’s autonomous drone ship call “ Of Course I Still have intercourse You ” , it made a “ cushy landing place ” in the water next to the ship . Had the landing been successful , this would have been a milestone of 50 booster convalescence for SpaceX. However , the company remained promising that the equipment remain in one piece .
The cause for the unsuccessful person is not immediately absolved , althoughsome reportssuggest a alteration in field for the satellites made the landing place more challenging . A 24 - minute delay to the quaternary launching of this booster shot , due to a problem with a valve component on the rocket ’s 2nd stage , has not been linked to the landing unsuccessful person of the rocket engine ’s first phase .
SpaceX is not the only company dress to go in the next cyberspace space market place . London - based startupOneWebwants to create a constellation of 650 satellites . After asuccessful launchearlier this month of 34 of those , the company say they are on track to provide global coverage to customers in 2021.Yet , SpaceX ’s ability to launch its own rockets imply that its growing configuration may even offer modified broadband service of process as before long asthis twelvemonth .
However , this all comes at a cost , which the astronomy residential area is becoming increasingly concerned about .
In apapertitled “ Concerns about ground base astronomical observations : A Step To Safeguard The Astronomical Sky ” , three astronomers from the INAF - Osservatorio Astronomico di Roma have presented their criticisms of satellite constellations .
“ With the huge amount of about 50,000 unexampled artificial satellites for telecommunication planned to be plunge in Medium and Low Earth Orbit , the mean density of artificial objects will be of > 1 satellite for straight sky degree ; this will ineluctably harm professional astronomical images , ” the authors write .
The trails left behind in images could prove severe , the writer warned , as the move of near Earth objects ( NEOs ) could be obscured . Images of the dark sky will also look different , as the expected brightness of the Starlink satellites will signify only 172 maven are shiny .
Observations in other wavelength , such as radio , are also of vexation as radio receiver - astronomy sensing element are already said to be “ saturate by the ubiquitous beam of light of satellites communication from Space stations as well as from the ground . ”
Others in the uranology residential district , such as theInternational Astronomical Union , Royal Astronomical Society , and theAmerican Astronomical Societyhave also bring out command voice their headache about satellite constellation . They go for to work with SpaceX , and other fellowship , to help oneself minimize the impact of the satellites on astronomy .
