The fast-paced campaign to create a constellation of satellites for Internet access continued Tuesday with the eighth Falcon 9 rocket launch carrying Starlink satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in 11 months.
The two-stage rocket built by Space Exploration Technologies blasted off at 10:40 p.m. from Space Launch Complex-4 on the South Base, generating a loud and long rumble heard at several locations around the Central Coast.
On board the rocket were 46 Starlink satellites as SpaceX continues building a space-based constellation to provide Internet services on Earth, especially in areas without access or reliable access.
Deployment of the 46 satellites occurred about one hour after liftoff, according to SpaceX.
It marked the fourth Falcon rocket launch of Starlink satellites since July 1 and the eighth since last September from the West Coast. Hundreds of other satellites, including a batch as recently as Saturday night, have launched from Florida, putting the total above 3,100 satellites.
After completing its job, the Vandenberg rocket’s first stage successfully landed on the drone ship, dubbed Of Course I Still Love You and parked in the Pacific Ocean. It marked the seventh flight for that booster.
The Vandenberg launch came five days after SpaceX founder Elon Musk and T-Mobile CEO/President Mike Sievert announced a new technology partnership to provide Starlink capability to T-Mobile cellphones.
“This partnership has a vision that is the end of mobile dead zones,” Sievert said, noting that large swaths of the United States have no mobile phone coverage. “This is important. It’s important for safety. It’s important for connectivity with the people we love. It’s important for people in rural areas, for first responders. … But honestly, it’s important for all of us.”
He likened it to putting a cellular tower in the sky — “just a lot harder” — to supplement the existing land-based service.
“The important thing is you will not need to get a new phone. The phone you currently have will work,” Musk said.
The new service will use a piece of spectrum that the cellphones already know.
A beta version of the service with messaging capability is expected in late 2023, but they expect to expand to include data and voice ability eventually.
“The thing that I think is really profound about what we’re announcing today is that it will save lives,” Musk said. “And, we will no longer read about these tragedies that happened where people got lost and if only they could have called for help they would be OK.”
Starlink satellites will need larger antennas and are expected to launch aboard the SpaceX Starship booster, Musk said. However, he added, a mini version might launch on Falcon if the Starship program experiences delays.
“This is an amazing thing we’re unveiling,” Musk said, adding that it will be meant for places without cell tower connectivity. “This is really meant to provide basic coverage to areas that are currently completely dead.”
SpaceX is excited to pioneer the revolutionary technology with T-Mobile, according to Musk.
“I think this is really a massive game-changer,” Musk said at last week’s announcement in Texas.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at jscully@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.