SpaceX launches Falcon Heavy rocket carrying powerful satellite
Summary
SpaceX successfully launched its Falcon Heavy rocket, carrying a ViaSat-3 internet satellite into space from Florida. The side boosters landed back safely, while the satellite was placed into an orbit that allows it to provide high-speed internet from geosynchronous orbit.Key Facts
- The Falcon Heavy is SpaceX’s most powerful operational rocket with three core boosters.
- The rocket launched from Kennedy Space Center’s historic pad 39A at 10:13 a.m. EDT.
- Two side boosters landed back on targets at Cape Canaveral after separation; the central core stage was discarded into the Atlantic Ocean.
- The ViaSat-3 satellite will be positioned in geosynchronous orbit about 22,300 miles above Earth, staying in a fixed spot relative to the ground.
- The satellite features a large solar panel and the biggest commercial satellite dish ever launched, capable of 1 terabyte of data per second.
- This is the third satellite in ViaSat’s global fleet providing high-speed internet coverage on large regions of the planet.
- SpaceX is also building Starlink, a constellation of nearly 12,000 low-Earth orbit satellites offering internet via a different method.
- Competitors like Amazon and Blue Origin are also developing satellite internet constellations using low-Earth orbit satellites.
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