SpaceX, which is a company of the billionaire Elon Musk, launched the first round of 60 satellites into low-Earth orbit with the goal of creating satellite constellation called Starlink. The idea behind Starlink is to provide star-based internet service around the world.

A rocket “Falcon 9” blasted off on May 23 at 10:30 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. With this project, Musk aims to collect enough money to begin his plans in space. Their first attempt wasn’t carried out due to high winds in that area, and the second one wasn’t realized because satellite software needed to be updated; they wanted to make sure that everything worked as it should before launching. 

After releasing the satellites, the Falcon 9 successfully landed on a barge in the Atlantic ocean. 

It is yet to be discovered if all satellites function normally. Each of them weighs around 550 pounds (227 kg), and they are the heaviest objects in history that were sent into space.

Technological Advances and Musk’s Plans for the Future

Musk hopes that his Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, also known as SpaceX, will earn $3 billion each year. Ultimately, he plans to create a spacecraft which will transport people to the Moon, and one day, even to Mars.

This well-known entrepreneur said that this was just the first step towards creating a self-sustaining city on Mars, and he hopes that this will be what we needed to start going to the Moon. He pointed out that to cover the entire planet, we need at least 12 additional launches. At this point, Starlink is authorized only in the USA.

Musk’s company is not the only one who had launched satellites into space. In February, companies Airbus SE and OneWeb launched their satellites too. Other companies, such as LeoSat Enterprises and Canada’s Telesat, are currently building data networks as well. 

Advances in laser technology and computer chips allowed smaller satellites to orbit closer to Earth.

Finally, Musk mentioned that 2,000 satellites would be launched each year, with the final goal of putting 12,000 of them into the Earth’s orbit.