CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida: SpaceX has launched 60 tiny satellites, the first of hundreds and even thousands that founder Elon Musk plans to put in orbit for global internet coverage.
The recycled Falcon rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, late Thursday local time. The first-stage booster landed on an ocean platform, as the tightly packed cluster of satellites continued upward.
Musk said on Friday that all 60 flat-panel satellites were successfully deployed and online a few hundred kilometres above Earth. Each satellite weighs 227 kilogrammes.
The orbiting constellation, named Starlink, will grow substantially.
Musk says 12 launches of 60 satellites each will provide high-speed internet coverage throughout the United States. Twenty-four launches will serve most of the populated world and 30 launches the entire world. That will be 1,800 satellites in total, with more planned after that, he said.
