Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, initiated the project, Starlink, to provide high-speed broadband internet to areas where connection has been unreliable. The Starlink satellites were launched by the Falcon 9, a reusable rocket designed by SpaceX to deliver safe transport. Let’s take a closer look at all the details and the latest missions of the Starlink project.

“When I started SpaceX, I thought that the most likely outcome was failure. And I think to have any other expectation would have been irrational.” – Elon Musk

On Saturday, May 30th the seventh Starlink mission was blasted off into space with two astronauts on board. The NASA astronauts, Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley, were sent to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard the Crew Dragon Capsule for ongoing maintenance. The duo docked with the orbiting lab about 19 hours later and will remain there from one to four months. For the first time since NASA retired its space shuttles in 2011, the space agency can launch astronauts from its home shores rather than paying for seats aboard Russian spacecraft. Now, NASA will buy seats on Crew Dragon. In the new Commercial Crew model, SpaceX retains ownership and operational control of its spacecraft, meaning anyone with enough cash, at least in theory, could buy a ticket to orbit.

“I’m really excited for this NASA and SpaceX mission to bring human spaceflight back to the Florida coast. There’s a generation of people who maybe didn’t get a chance to see a space shuttle launch, and now they’re getting a chance again to see human spaceflight in our own backyard.” – Bob Behnken

Then soon after on Wednesday, June 3rd, SpaceX successfully launched the eighth Starlink mission lifted off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force station carrying 60 satellites with it. A few days later, on Saturday, June 13th, the ninth latest mission was launched off from the same Air Force Station carrying two fewer satellites (58).