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SpaceX launches a pioneering phalanx of Internet satellites tonight (May 15) and you can watch the takeoff live.
A two-stage Falcon 9 rocket carrying the first 60 spacecraft in SpaceX Starlink megatest is scheduled to launch tonight at 10:30 pm EDT (4:30 pm GMT) on May 16th from Cape Canaveral Air Force Air Force Base in Florida. Watch it live here at Space.com with permission from SpaceX, or directly via the space flight company.
The 60 compact satellites nearly fill the payload fairing of the Falcon 9, as shown by SpaceX's founder and CEO, Elon Musk, in a photo posted on Twitter during the weekend. That same message included a picture of Musk's Tesla Roadster looking tiny in its fairing before its launch in February 2018 on the first test flight of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket.
Related: The SpaceX Falcon 9: a rocket for the dragon
Many things will go wrong during the 1st mission. In addition, 6 other launches of 60 seats needed for minor coverage, 12 for a moderate.May 12, 2019
Two weeks after this Falcon Heavy mission, SpaceX launched two Starlink prototypes, named Tintin A and Tintin B, as secondary payloads on a Falcon 9 flight. But the spacecraft mounted tonight are "production-design" satellites. said Musk.
Tonight's launch will only be the beginning of Starlink, if all goes as planned. SpaceX aims to launch up to 12,000 satellites for the constellation, designed to provide cheap Internet access to people around the world.
Six additional payload launches of 60 satellites will be needed to provide "minor" coverage, and "moderate" coverage will be achieved by launching six more after that, Musk said in another tweet.
SpaceX is not the only company to dream of Internet-satellite. For example, Jeff Bezos' OneWeb and Blue Origin plan to start building the megacstels of their own in the months and years to come.
Mike Wall's book on the search for extraterrestrial life, "Over there"(Grand Central Publishing, 2018, illustrated by Karl Tate), is out now. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall. Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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