22 Starlink satellites launched into orbit: SpaceX
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The last time SpaceX made a previous launch of 22 Starlink satellites was on July 28.
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Fuel vents from a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket as she sits on Launch Complex 39-A Monday, Feb. 27, 2023. (AP)
Space corporation SpaceX announced on X (formerly known as Twitter) on Monday that it launched an additional 22 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in the US state of Florida.
"Falcon 9 launches 22 @Starlink satellites from Florida," SpaceX wrote on X.
Falcon 9 launches 22 @Starlink satellites from Florida pic.twitter.com/kR7hUuTcKQ
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) August 7, 2023
The company added that the rocket's first stage made a successful landing on the A Shortfall of the Gravitas floating rocket landing pad.
The last time SpaceX made a previous launch of 22 Starlink satellites was on July 28.
Read more: 3D-printed rocket launches into space later today
The internet provider was launched in May 2019 with the first 60 satellites put into orbit aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
In the first weeks that followed the start of the Ukraine conflict, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk offered to provide the service to Ukrainians for free.
In early November 2022, 1300 SpaceX satellite units of the military went offline, raising concerns within Ukrainian forces as outages were reported near the frontlines, where it was believed then that Russia was able to shut them down using an unspecified electronic weapon.
On November 14, 2022, SpaceX's founder Elon Musk said he could no longer provide the services due to a shortage of funds and asked the Pentagon to cover the costs.
SpaceX highlighted its financial issues and urged the government to begin funding Starlink services for Ukraine in a letter sent to the Pentagon last month, stating it will cost more than $120 million for the remainder of 2022 and $400 million over the next year.
A day later, Musk said he will continue to fund Starlink in Ukraine for free despite that other contractors receive government funding to manufacture military equipment for Ukraine.
"The hell with it," Musk wrote on Twitter, saying that he will continue to fund the internet for the Ukraine government for free.
In February this year, SpaceX accused Ukraine of breaking the agreement between the two parties and using Starlink for “offensive purposes".
On July 31, 2023, Sputnik reported that Russian electronic warfare began to disrupt the Starlink satellite internet signal in the Lugansk direction.
"An analysis of transmissions between Ukrainian militants at the line of contact has shown that they experience difficulties with internet access via Starlink satellites. Many believe it is due to Russian armed forces having started to jam the signal provided by SpaceX company," Andrei Marochko, a retired army officer of the Lugansk People's Republic (LPR) and a military expert told Sputnik.
Read more: Elon Musk denied Starlink access to Ukraine for Crimea attack
