SpaceX wraps busy schedule
March 6, 2023
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX added 72 of its Starlink satellites into their transfer orbits a few days ago, as well as ferrying four astronauts to the International Space Station.
The Starlink launches – from both its Florida and California launch sites – included 21 of the new ‘V2-Mini’ versions which have four-times the capacity thanks to more powerful phased-array antennas.
SpaceX has now launched a total of 4,053 Starlink craft although some have been test satellites while others have been de-orbited for one reason or another. According to statistics from astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell there are now 3,754 Starlinks working in orbit.
SpaceX is scheduling around six additional Starlink launches this month (two from Vandenberg and four from Cape Canaveral).
Additionally, SpaceX will loft 40 satellites into orbit for OneWeb (probably on March 9th). Later in March, probably around March 17th/18th, it will launch two satellites for SES (SES-18, SES-19) which will take care of C-band transmissions over the US.