![Starlink: A white and black cylindrical vehicle launches upward into a blue sky, leaving behind clouds of smoke on the brown ground.](jpg/spacex-starlink-launch-may-2023-california.jpg)
Completed June Starlink launches
Starlink Group 5-12: June 23, 2023, 11:35 a.m. EDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | SUCCESS
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/OUNkJ5gCD1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 23, 2023
Starlink Group 5-7: June 22, 2023, 12:19 a.m. PDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Vandenberg SFB, California | SUCCESS
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/iqHOnON7Tz
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 22, 2023
Starlink Group 5-11: June 12, 2023, 3:10 a.m. EDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | SUCCESS
Falcon 9 launches 52 @Starlink satellites to orbit from Florida pic.twitter.com/5O54cXO8qv
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 12, 2023
Starlink Group 6-4: June 4, 2023, 8:20 a.m. EDT
Falcon 9 Block 5 | Cape Canaveral, Florida | SUCCESS
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/FVL8j6vvu1
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) June 4, 2023
You can check back here or go directly to SpaceX’s YouTube channel for a livestream of the launch. Livestreams typically begin about five minutes before liftoff.
After launch, look for a train of lights
Following every Starlink launch, the internet buzzes with people asking:
What’s that long line of lights in the sky that looks like a train?
What you’re seeing is the Starlink satellites moving into a higher orbit. You can check to see if they will pass over your area using the Find Starlink website.
Growing numbers amid controversy
According to Wikipedia, as of May 2023, Starlink consists of over 4,000 mass-produced small satellites in low Earth orbit that communicate with designated ground transceivers. Overall, they provide internet access to more than 1.5 million subscribers.
Love ’em or hate ’em, these Starlink satellites are part of SpaceX’s vision for a global internet communication satellite constellation. They deliver high-speed internet service worldwide, mainly to locations where ground-based internet is unreliable, unavailable or expensive. The private company is well-known for launching batches back-to-back, several times a month, regularly lofting 60 satellites at a time. And eventually, SpaceX plans to build up to perhaps as many as 30,000.
To begin with, most thought it was exciting to see the first few Starlink satellites traveling together in the night sky. But, then more were launched, and then more. And astronomers began to worry.
Because Starlinks are bright, astronomers say they’re photobombing astronomical images. Therefore, they have the potential to interfere with the professional astronomical observations that have brought us our modern-day view of the cosmos. And although SpaceX has tried to address the issue, they remain far from what astronomers say is acceptable.
Bottom line: Here’s the list of Starlink launches by SpaceX for the month of June. Learn more about Starlink and how to see them.
Read more from EarthSky: Starlink satellites can look like a plume or train of light