SpaceX has 1,434 Starlinks in orbit
April 29, 2021
By Chris Forrester
On April 29th, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral carrying another 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. This was Flight 24 for the Starlink mission and the 12th flight this year.
SpaceX used a booster rocket which had already flown six times and Elon Musk, speaking a few days ago, said there did not seem to be any obvious limit to the reusability of these launch vehicles. However, Musk also cautioned that SpaceX would continue to reuse its booster rockets “until they break” and thus likely to exceed the self-imposed 10-launch limit.
In total, there have been 1,505 Starlinks launched, but some were test vehicles and a few have failed. Observers say that 1,434 Starlink satellites are now active.
This particular rocket booster landed for its seventh landing onto the floating barge, and permitting it to be used for an eighth flight down the line.