Starlink, the company spun off from SpaceX with which its creator and CEO, Elon Musk, wants to bring Internet connectivity via satellite to any corner of the planet with clear skies, has put a new set of its microsatellites into orbit.
Starlink already has about 3,000 satellites in orbit for global Internet connectivity
And as on previous occasions, and to the irritation of astronomy buffs and the amazement of celestial observers, there will again be a series of sightings of its “train of satellites.”that kind of space procession in which at dawn or dusk, at certain points of the planet, a row of moving luminous dots can be distinguished, which turn out to be the last satellites deployed before taking up their definitive working positions.
For those who want to know precisely when to see these satellites and the celestial zone in which to look for them, it is essential to use the web page FindStarlink.com, but we can already anticipate that for those interested in seeing them from the Iberian Peninsula, the best times are the following:
-Friday September 9 from 21:26 and during only 4 minutes.
-Saturday, September 10 starting at 21:33 CET and for only 5 minutes.
It will be the first such enlistment visible from Spain since the one that took place last May. Despite their small size, these satellites are clearly visible in the hours closest to sunrise and sunset due to the incidence of the sun’s rays on their solar plates, which with the right angle are reflected and enhanced.
On this occasion the “train of satellites” is composed of 51 units still corresponding to the first generation of Starlink microsatellites which were launched last Monday at 4:09 CET from Cape Canaveral aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on its seventh launch. It should be recalled that one of the hallmarks of SpaceX’s private space program is the reusable nature of its rocketswhich greatly reduces costs.
