On Thursday, March 4, at 3:24 a.m,. EST, SpaceX launched 60 Starlink satellites from Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A) at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This was the eighth launch of this Falcon 9 booster, which previously supported Iridium-8, Telstar 18 VANTAGE and five Starlink missions.
Starlink can deliver high-speed broadband internet to locations where access has been unreliable or completely unavailable without traditional ground structure. At a time when more people are working from home and more students are participating in virtual learning, internet connectivity is more important than ever. With Starlink, the company states they are able to deploy quickly to areas that need it most.
In December, the Wise County Public School District in rural Virginia, where approximately 40% of teachers and students do not have internet access at home, announced it would provide some families in the area with Starlink to support remote learning. Starlink units were deployed in January and more than 40 homes are now connected with high-speed internet.
Replay the launch at this direct link to the captured video…