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SpaceX has deployed its fifteenth batch of Starlink satellites, with a launch taking place on Saturday, October 24 at 11:31 a.m. ET from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. A Falcon 9 rocket carried a batch of 60 satellites to add to the growing network of satellites in the Starlink constellation that will eventually provide global broadband Internet access.
The Falcon 9’s first stage thruster was captured by the “Just Read the Instructions” droneship, stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
This marks SpaceX’s 100th successful launch since the company launched its first Falcon 1 into orbit in 2008. This includes 95 Falcon 9 launches, three Falcon Heavy launches, and two Falcon 1 launches.
Falcon 9 Launches SpaceX’s 100th Flight → https://t.co/w5a0ZzbGoM pic.twitter.com/yNokC8MRng
– SpaceX (@SpaceX) October 24, 2020
During these 100 launches, SpaceX has made impressive strides in improving the reusability of its rockets, getting better and better at capturing first-stage rocket propellants for reuse and even beginning to trap and reuse other parts at times as well. as payload fairings. Out of 100 successful launches, the company has captured the first stage impeller 63 times, allowing the impellers to be reused 45 times.
“SpaceX believes that rockets that can be fully and rapidly reused are the fundamental advance needed to dramatically reduce the cost of access to space and enable people to travel and live on other planets,” the company said in a statement. “While most rockets are expendable after launch, similar to dropping a plane after a one-way trip from Los Angeles to New York, SpaceX is working toward a future where reusable rockets are the norm.”
In addition to its widely used Falcon 9 rocket, which SpaceX says is now the most flown operational rocket in the United States, the company is also making progress on the development of its Starship rocket for super heavy payloads. The idea is to use the starship for missions to the Moon and eventually to Mars. Development of the latest prototype, the SN8, continues with a recent static fire test. The company plans to do so before another static fire test before attempting a jump test, in which the rocket is lifted from the ground.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said his goal is for Starship to enter orbit next year, which could send a spacecraft to Mars beginning in 2024.
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