CNBC reports that as SpaceX faces a standard practice FAA grounding of its “Starship Super Heavy launch program pending results of a ‘mishap investigation’” over the explosion of its vehicle last week, researchers also “are scrambling to assess the impact of the explosion on local communities, their health, habitat and wildlife including endangered species.” The primary issue “is the large amount of sand- and ash-like particulate matter and heavier debris kicked up by the launch. The particulate emissions spread far beyond the expected debris field,” which SpaceX “did not accurately predict.”
Full Story (CNBC)
Tag: 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites
SpaceX Launches Upgraded Starlink Satellites
Florida Today reports that SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket Wednesday morning from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying more Starlink satellites. The flight was Starlink’s 80th dedicated mission since first launching in 2019. Spaceflight Now reports that the rocket carried 21 Starlink V2 Mini satellites, which have “improved phased array antennas with four times the communications capacity of earlier generations of Starlink satellites.”
Full Story (Florida Today); More Info (Spaceflight Now)
Video
Starlink Mission
On Wednesday, April 19 at 10:31 a.m. ET, Falcon 9 launched 21 Starlink satellites to low-Earth orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida.
(SpaceX; YouTube)