SpaceX conducts doubleheader with Starlink mission followed by launch for SES - NASASpaceFlight.com - NASASpaceflight.com

41 Hot on the heels of Tuesday’s successful CRS-27 launch, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 was in action again for a pair of back-to-back missions from both coasts Friday, tasked with deploying communications satellites into orbit.

SpaceX is developing Starlink to offer high-speed satellite internet access around the world, with a focus on rural areas where terrestrial broadband is unavailable.

By leveraging its reusable rockets and gaps in its launch manifest, SpaceX aims to minimize the costs of deploying one of the largest constellations of satellites ever envisioned.

The payload fairing that encapsulates the satellites at the nose of the rocket is also designed to be reusable, with the two halves parachuting back to Earth for a seaborne recovery after separating during ascent.

Prior to shipping to Cape Canaveral ahead of their launch, SES-18 and 19 were built, tested, and stored at Northrop Grumman’s facility in Dulles, Virginia.

GEOStar-3 satellites have typical design lives of at least 15 years, with their twin solar arrays – consisting of multi-junction gallium arsenide cells – generating up to 8,000 watts of power.