![]() Related: SpaceX's most-flown Falcon 9 rocket is a sooty veteran after 10 launches and landings (photos) Falcon 9's record launch no. Company officials have said that the program now serves more than 100,000 subscribers in 20 countries and is still growing. SpaceX aims to use its Starlink megaconstellation to connect people around the globe to the internet, particularly those in rural and remote areas who have little-to-no connectivity. Saturday's mission will fill another spot in the 53.2-degree orbit, marking a switch to a non-polar orbit for a California payload. That launch blasted off from California in Sept. Of the recent Starlink missions to launch, two payloads have been deposited into the 53.2-degree inclination and one into the 70-degree slot. To date, the 53-degree shell has been filled and SpaceX is turning its sights to other inclinations. (The inclination is the angle between the orbital plane and the equator.) These shells will be located at various altitudes above the planet, between 335 and 348 miles (540 and 560 kilometers) and at inclinations of 53, 53.2, 70, and 97.6 degrees. SpaceX has five orbital shells designed to be filled with roughly 4,400 Starlink internet satellites. This view from a SpaceX Falcon 9 upper stage shows the stack of 52 Starlink satellites launched into orbit on Dec. 21), SpaceX is scheduled to launch another Falcon 9 rocket carrying a Dragon cargo ship to the International Space Station for NASA from the agency's Launch Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. EST (0358 GMT Sunday) from a pad at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The first of those missions will launch a communications satellite called Turksat 5B less than 19 hours after the Starlink mission sailed into orbit - a new company record. If all goes as planned, the company could launch a grand total of 31 Falcon 9 missions this year, as there are two more launches on the calendar, which will both lift off from Florida. (That record was previously set in 2020, with SpaceX launching 26 Falcon 9 rockets.)
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