Starlink launches in February 2023
Starlink Group 5-3: February 2, 2023, 7:58 UTC (2:58 a.m. EST)
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Kennedy House Heart, Florida | SUCCESS
Starlink Group 5-4: February 11, 2023/TIME TBD
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida
Starlink Group 2-2: DATE/TIME TBD
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida
Starlink Group 6-1: DATE/TIME TBD
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida
Starlink Group 2-5: DATE/TIME TBD
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg SFB, California
After launch, search for a practice of lights
Following each Starlink launch, the web buzzes with individuals asking:
What’s that lengthy line of lights within the sky that appears like a practice?
What you’re seeing is the Starlink satellites shifting into the next orbit. You possibly can examine to see if they may go over your space utilizing the Find Starlink website.
Rising numbers amid controversy
In accordance with Wikipedia, as of December 2022, Starlink consists of over 3,300 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that talk with designated floor transceivers. They supply web entry to a couple of million subscribers.
Love ’em or hate ’em, these Starlink satellites are a part of SpaceX’s imaginative and prescient for a worldwide web communication satellite constellation. They ship high-speed web service worldwide, primarily to areas the place ground-based web is unreliable, unavailable, or costly. The personal firm is well-known for launching batches back-to-back, a number of instances a month, usually lofting 60 satellites at a time. And SpaceX plans to construct as much as maybe as many as 30,000 finally.
Most thought it was thrilling to see the primary few Starlink satellites touring collectively within the night time sky. However then extra have been launched, after which extra. And astronomers started to fret.
As a result of Starlinks are vibrant, astronomers say they’re photobombing astronomical pictures. Subsequently, they’ve the potential to intrude with the skilled astronomical observations which have introduced us our modern-day view of the cosmos. And though SpaceX has tried to deal with the problem, they continue to be removed from what astronomers say is appropriate.
Backside line: SpaceX’s most up-to-date Starlink launch took flight from Florida at 7:58 UTC on February 2, 2023. Watch a recorded livestream and study extra right here.
Read more from EarthSky: Starlink satellites can look like a plume or train of light
