SpaceX Launched the First Batch of Starlink Satellites in 2022
After completing 31 successful missions in 2021, SpaceX launched the first batch of Starlink satellites of the new year, sending 49 Internet satellites into orbit atop the Falcon 9 partially reusable rocket.
The Falcon 9 rocket was launched into space on January 6 at 4:49 PM EST from the Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. After the launch, Falcon 9's first stage successfully landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship.
This year will be a busy one for SpaceX. The company plans to conduct about 40 launches in 2022.
SpaceX is forming a constellation of near-earth Starlink satellites designed to provide broadband Internet access services. The company began forming the constellation in 2019, and there are currently 1.9 thousand Starlink satellites in orbit in total.