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SpaceX is due to launch 46 new Starlink satellites into orbit, just weeks after dozens were destroyed by a geomagnetic storm.
The rocket company, headed by billionaire Elon Musk, is targeting a launch time of 9:44 a.m. ET on Monday, February 21. The satellites are due to be launched by a Falcon 9 rocket that will take off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
A live webcast of the mission will start around 15 minutes before launch. It can be watched on YouTube here via SpaceX's official account.
Starlink is SpaceX's satellite internet service, which makes use of thousands of small satellites in low-Earth orbit to provide network access to paying customers. Launches are frequent with many having taken place so far this year. There are more than 2,000 of the satellites in orbit currently.
However, that number was recently reduced after up to 40 units in the previous deployment were knocked out of orbit.
The last group of Starlink satellites was launched on February 3, when SpaceX blasted 49 of them into space. The company said that shortly after they achieved controlled flight, they experienced difficulties due to a geomagnetic storm—in which bursts of energy from the sun interfere with the Earth's magnetic field.
The storm caused the atmosphere to warm up, leading to increased density at the low altitudes at which the newly deployed satellites were operating. SpaceX said that instruments on board the satellites suggested the atmospheric drag caused by the storm was up to 50 percent higher than in previous launches.
The satellites attempted to brave the weather as SpaceX commanded them to go into "safe-mode" in which they flew side-on to the atmosphere to minimize drag. However, the drag remained too high for the satellites to exit their emergency safe mode and dozens ended up returning to Earth, burning up in the atmosphere. SpaceX said no orbital debris was expected to hit the ground.
Fiery Balls of Light
Footage shared to YouTube by the Caribbean Astronomical Society, also called Sociedad de Astronomia del Caribe, purportedly shows a group of the satellites streaking through the atmosphere as fiery balls of light over the skies of Puerto Rico on February 7.
Monday's launch, called SLC-40, will see SpaceX put some more of the satellites into orbit. The company says that the Falcon 9 rocket's booster stage that will be used during the mission has already flown 10 times before—and five of those were previous Starlink launches.
According to the launch plan, the booster stage is set to return to Earth a little under nine minutes after the start of the mission, and the satellites will be deployed around one hour after the start of the mission.
