Susan Li of FOX Business talks about Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk fighting for their satellite Internet projects.
SpaceX has rescheduled the launch of one of its Falcon 9 rockets to transport a batch of Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit.
The 45th Space Wing approved launches for SpaceX’s Starlink L-18 and L-17 missions on Wednesday, which were originally set to launch about four hours apart at 1:19 am and 5:36 am east of Thursday respectively.
FAA FOR OVERSEE INVESTIGATION INTO SPACEX STARSHIP SN9 TEST FLIGHT EXPLOSION
Starlink L-18 is still scheduled to take off from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station 40 Launch Complex at 1:19 am Eastern time on Thursday, as originally scheduled. The 45th Weather Squaudron said there was a 90 percent chance of a favorable weather for the launch.
However, SpaceX announced on Wednesday that it was now rescheduling the launch of Starlink 17 from the Kennedy 39A Space Center Launch Complex from 5:36 am Eastern time on Thursday to 5:14 am Eastern time on Friday in order to allow additional pre-release checks. The 45th Meteorological Squadron said there was a 30% chance of violating climate restrictions, with the main concern being the takeoff winds.
The launches would have been the first time since 1966 that two rockets took off from the Eastern Cordillera on the same day, after the previous Gemini 12 and Atlas Agena missions, which took off 99 minutes apart.
Together, the missions are expected to carry hundreds of Starlink satellites, which are part of an ongoing effort to create a space-based broadband network that would be available worldwide. Other aerospace companies that develop their own space-based broadband networks include Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
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Launch announcements arrive just a day after SpaceX’s Starship SN9 prototype crashed during a fire test flight on Tuesday.
A Federal Aviation Administration spokesman told FOX Business that he would oversee an investigation into the accident to “identify the root cause of today’s accident and possible opportunities to further increase safety as the program develops.” The successor to SN9, the SN10 starship, is supposedly almost completed.
SpaceX also has plans for space tourism partnerships with Space Adventures in 2021 and Axiom Space in 2022, as well as with Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, founder and executive director of online fashion retailer Zozo, for a private mission to the Moon in 2023.
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