SpaceX Postponed Launch of Starlink Satellites
SpaceX postponed a planned Wednesday night launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first 60 satellites for his new Starlink internet service, citing excessive winds over the Capa Canaveral launch site.
Launch of the mission was rescheduled for 10:30 p.m. on Thursday (0230 GMT Friday).
The Startlink mission aims at placing the initial stage of Musk’s space-based global internet network into low-Earth orbit. Each satellite in the first Starlink launch weighs 500 pounds (227 kg), making this the heaviest SpaceX payload to date. It will take at least 12 launches of additional satellites to achieve Musk’s goal of providing constant internet coverage for most of the world.
Musk expects revenues from rocket launch services provided by SpaceX, to top out at about $3 billion per year. That makes Starlink key to generating the cash that SpaceX needs to fund Musk’s larger dream of developing new spacecraft capable of flying paying customers to the moon and eventually trying to colonize Mars.
In February, Airbus SE-backed OneWeb launched its own clutch of satellites, while LeoSat Enterprises and Canada’s Telesat are also working to build data networks.