SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites to the fourth shell of the constellation for the first global orbital launch attempt of the year.
Lifting off from historic Launch Complex 39A (LC-39A), the Starlink Group 4–5 mission lifted 49 Starlink v1.5 satellites southeastward from Kennedy into a 210 × 339 km low Earth orbit with an inclination of 53.22 degrees.
Following payload separation, the satellites will slowly raise their orbit until they are in their operational altitude of 540 km. This process takes several months due to the low-thrust but high-efficiency Krypton ion thrusters on the Starlink satellites.
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