A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida at about 12:12 a.m. Eastern on December 8, 2024. The satellites were deployed into low Earth orbit about an hour later, according to SpaceX and reports at the time.
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Thirteen of the 23 satellites had direct-to-cell capability, which lets phones connect to the satellites without a special dish. The booster was on its second flight, having landed on a droneship in the Atlantic.
About Starlink
Starlink is SpaceX’s satellite internet service. Its satellites operate at about 550 kilometres (342 miles) above Earth. SpaceX has said it hopes to eventually operate around 42,000 satellites, and the company has said Starlink satellites have a lifespan of about five years.
Concerns
Astronomers have raised concerns that the satellites’ brightness can interfere with observations, and space safety experts have said the constellation’s size adds to the risk of collisions in orbit.
Editor’s note: an earlier version of this article was a general explainer with unsourced statements about satellite weight and climate effects, and it did not describe the launch in its headline. It has been rewritten to report the December 8, 2024 launch and its sourced context.
Sources
- Space.com, SpaceX launches 23 Starlink internet satellites from Florida (8 December 2024): https://space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-launches-23-starlink-internet-satellites-from-florida
- UPI via SpaceDaily, SpaceX launches 23 more Starlink satellites (8 December 2024): https://www.spacedaily.com/reports/SpaceX_launches_23_more_Starlink_satellites_999.html
- DevX, SpaceX launches 23 Starlink satellites Saturday (8 December 2024): https://www.devx.com/daily-news/spacex-launches-23-starlink-satellites-saturday/
- Orbit Codex, Starlink Group 12-23 mission record (550 km operational altitude): https://orbitcodex.com/operations/starlink-group-12-23-falcon-9