Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches the first batch of next-generation Starlink satellites

Space X launched 54 of its next-generation Starlink internet satellites into orbit this morning from the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.

This marks the first batch of up to 7,500 units of the upgraded model – known as ‘Gen 2’ – to be sent into space onboard a Falcon 9 rocket.

These are said to be more powerful than the first generation models, so can handle more traffic, but may also be able to beam internet service directly to smartphones.

The rocket lifted off at 09:43 GMT (04:43 ET) and the second stage, carrying the satellites, separated from the first stage about two and a half minutes later.

This marks the first batch of up to 7,500 units of the upgraded model – known as ‘Gen 2’ – to be sent into space onboard a Falcon 9 rocket. Pictured: First generation Starlink satellites 

While the second stage continued into space, the first returned to Earth, landing on the ‘A Shortfall of Gravitas’ drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff. 

This was the reusable rocket’s eleventh flight, and SpaceX will also try to recover the two parts of its nose cone which drifted down to Earth equipped with parachutes. 

It also marked SpaceX’s 60th successful launch this year, setting a new record for Elon Musk’s company, as the previous was made in 2021 with 31 launches.

However, they do have plans for at least one more Starlink launch mission before the new year. 

The satellites separated from the second stage of this morning’s mission just under 19 minutes after lift-off.

SpaceX currently has about 3,300 Starlink satellites in orbit, and last week, Mr Musk boasted that they now had a million active subscribers.

They provides low-latency, high-speed internet at an affordable cost – often to remote areas without existing WiFi – and this year expanded to yachts, cruise ships and RVs.

In tests, the service has been shown to offer speeds of up to 200 megabits per second, which is higher than what copper cables that are typically used in more remote areas, can achieve. 

However, according to a report from Ookla, Starlink has seen its speeds worldwide slow down by up to 54 per cent in some countries as it has been more widely used. 

Jessie Anderson, a SpaceX production and engineering manager who narrated the live stream of today’s launch, confirmed that the Gen2 satellites enable them to ‘add more customers and provide faster service’.

She added: ‘This launch marks the first of Starlink’s upgraded network.

‘Under our new licence, we are now able to deploy satellites to new orbits that will add even more capacity to the network.’

Jessie Anderson, a SpaceX production and engineering manager who narrated the live stream of today’s launch, confirmed that the Gen2 satellites enable them to ‘add more customers and provide faster service’

The rocket lifted off at 09:43 GMT (04:43 ET) and the second stage, carrying the satellites, separated from the first stage about two and a half minutes later. Pictured: Second stage of Falcon 9 rocket separates from the first stage in today’s launch

SpaceX received approval to deploy 7,500 Gen2 satellites from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on December 1.

However, the company had applied for permission to launch 30,000 of them before the end of the decade, which was not accepted.

The FCC placed this limit on the number of satellites due to ‘concerns about orbital debris and space safety’. 

Five days later, SpaceX filed another application with the FCC, asking for permission to equip the satellites with ‘direct-to-cellular’ hardware.

This would enable users to connect their mobile phones to the network to boost their coverage.

On August 25, Mr Musk and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert announced their vision to team up to provide signal for ‘almost anywhere a [T-Mobile] customer can see the sky’.

At the time, the world’s richest man said that the Gen2 satellites equipped with the hardware would need to be 23 feet (7 m) long and weigh 1.25 tonnes.

On 25 August, Mr Musk (right) and T-Mobile CEO Mike Sievert (left) announced their vision to team up to provide signal for ‘almost anywhere a [T-Mobile] customer can see the sky’

At the time, Elon Musk said that the Gen2 satellites equipped with the hardware would need to be 23 feet (7 m) long and weigh 1.25 tonnes. This is significantly heavier than the first generation Starlink satellites, which weigh about 660 pounds (300 kg)

This is significantly heavier than the first generation Starlink satellites, which weigh about 660 pounds (300 kg).

As a result, they would need to be launched by Mr Musk’s giant Starship rocket, which is in development and could take humans to the moon by 2025.

However, he also alluded that SpaceX may build a ‘mini’ version of the Gen2 satellites which could be launched with the Falcon 9 rockets in the interim.

Documents submitted to the FCC in October detail three different configurations for Starlink Gen 2 satellites.

One of these, named ‘F9-1’ has roughly the same dimensions and mass as the current V1.5 satellites, and could therefore have been onboard the Falcon 9 today.

It is currently unclear if the satellites launched this morning will be used to test any new software or hardware that enables cellular connectivity.

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