SpaceX launches 60 Starlink Internet satellites on Thursday from …

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CAP CANAVERAL, FLA. – After winds and a software update that triggered two launch attempts last week, SpaceX launched 60 low-Earth-orbit Internet satellites on Thursday night.

The 60 Starlink satellites, congested in the nose cone of the Falcon 9 rocket, are the heaviest payload ever recorded for a SpaceX rocket, weighing nearly 19 tons, according to CEO Elon Musk.

SpaceX announced that the deployment of 60 Starlink satellites has been a success.

According to Musk, satellites are the first round of a much larger constellation of thousands of spacecraft that will ultimately provide affordable high-speed Internet access worldwide.

Last week, SpaceX canceled the takeoff shortly before separate attempts on Wednesday and Thursday.

About two hours before the launch window opened Thursday, SpaceX officials delayed the launch in order to update the satellite software and "control everything on the fly". Wednesday, the launch of the Falcon 9 was cleaned because of high winds at altitude.

SpaceX will also try to recover the recall that proved successful after Thursday's launch. The booster will touch the drone of course, I still love you in the Atlantic Ocean about eight minutes after takeoff.

Musk said during a press call last week that as satellites begin to unfold about an hour after launch, the result could be slightly different than the previous deployment of spacecraft.

As the 60 satellites slowly leave the rocket, it will look like "spreading a deck of cards on a table," said Musk. There should be some contact between the spacecraft but they are designed to handle it, he said.

Musk said the first Starlink satellite series would be a learning process for SpaceX. Deploying dozens of spacecraft is risky for satellites.

Within two to three hours of deployment, SpaceX will know if the satellites have survived.

This launch is only the beginning for Starlink. Musk said Wednesday in a call to reporters that he could attend 1,000 to 2,000 satellites launched each year. He added that SpaceX satellites would eventually total more than all other spacecraft in low Earth orbit.

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