Cape Canaveral, Fla. – The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a new batch of 60 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit early on Sunday (March 14) and peaked its landing at sea on top of a record setting mission.
P ve Falcon 9 rocket This is the first time in SpaceX’s fleet that it has launched and landed a record nine times. The two-stage launcher at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida exploded from Pad 39 at 6:01 a.m. EDT (1101 GMT).
About nine minutes later, the first phase of the reusable rocket returned to Earth to attempt its ninth landing on SpaceX’s drone ship “C F Course I Still Love You” located in the Atlantic Ocean.
The flight is coming A few days after the company’s last launch, Where a separate Falcon 9 rocket took off from the neighboring Space Lunch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. Both missions delivered a full stack of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit, which helped SpaceX inches more than ever to fill its initial constellation’s 1,440 satellites.
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It was a crystalline clear night in Falconisa as the Falcon flames awakened the night sky. Weather forecasters from the 45th Weather Squadron predicted ideal conditions for the launch, with only weather concerns the possibility of cumulus clouds.
There were no clouds in the sky, as the rocket was treated to orbiters from an incredible point of view.
The sky before dawn produces some mountainous atmospheric influences and this projection is not disappointing. Below the horizon, the sun illuminated the plume of the rocket that created a shining space jellyfish in the sky. This kind of event just happened. And occurs in the evening.
Because these launches are often confusing for UFOs Fantastic squiggly clouds Generated. (Spoiler alert: It’s definitely not an alien.)
Related: What is it in the sky? It’s a SpaceX rocket, but it sure doesn’t look like this
Record setting flight
The booster, the B1051, is one of SpaceX’s reusable rocket stabilizers, with more than seven flights under its belt. P The Firer first flew in March 2019, Lifting a screw crew dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a demonstration mission.
Following that first mission, B1051 traveled cross-country Launch a trio of Earth observation satellites for Canada From SpaceX’s facilities at Wandenburg Air Force Base in California. Booster then flew a total of five times from Florida in 2020, with five different Starlink missions and a Broadband Satellite for Sirius XM.
Sunday’s mission marks the eighth overall flight for SpaceX in 2021, and the second flight this year for this special booster. After his last flight took off on January 20th, SpaceX engineers were able to turn it around the booster and prepare for the 53rd historic ninth flight in just 53 days – the second fastest turnaround time for this special booster. (This record was between 8 flights from flights that flew only 38 days apart.)
The B1051’s counterpart, the B1049, has flown eight times with a blast on March 4, its latest flight, following several weather delays and the need for more preliminary checkouts. SpaceX designed its Falcon 9 rocket to fly 10 times with low-to-no innovation as needed in flights. As the two boosters reach the 10-flight milestone, the company is closely monitoring in-flight wear.
With a fleet of flight-proof rockets at its disposal, SpaceX allows its rapid launch to continue with Cadence. However company officials have insisted that despite the booster recovery bonus, the main objective is to deliver whatever rocket takes the payload into space.
Each recovery effort and subsequent in-flight inspection process teaches SpaceX more and more how much wear and tear occurs after launch. The company uses that information to improve and streamline its recovery process.
When An upgraded version of the Falcon 9 was released in 2018, The company said it expects each Falcon 9 to fly an estimated 10 times in the first phase, with minor-new-renewals in between, and 100 times before retirement.
Now, the company says the number 10 could be more of a guideline than a strict limit. With the B1051 set to make its ninth flight, it is possible that we will see at least one, if multiple booster does not reach the milestone of 10-flight.
On Thursday (March 4), another SpaceX fleet leader, B1049, took off from its 8th flight. The booster has returned to port, awaiting SpaceX’s facility transport for post-flight observations and will be re-flying.
SpaceX recently Lost one of his booster In February, after it failed to land on a drone ship. The crash ended the length of the 24-booster recovery recovery established in 2020, after losing two other boosters in back-to-back crashes.
The damage was caused by the engine shutting down during the flight, which prevented the vehicle from nailing its landing site. SpaceX said it was not like the engine had stopped after hot gas leaked into parts.
The Falcon 9 is designed to fulfill its purpose, if any of its engines stop during flight. However, engineers hope that possible software software updates will help land the vehicle if such discrepancies occur.
The constellation grows
With success early tonight, SpaceX has launched more than 1,300 Starlink satellites into orbit, including some that are no longer operational. And many more launches are coming as SpaceX’s early Starlink constellation includes 1,440 satellites. However, the company has sought approval for thousands more.
To join the world, with one big goal, the company launched its giant constellation. To that end, SpaceX has designed a fleet of flat paneled broadband satellites that will fly to Earth, providing users around the world with Internet coverage. Especially in rural and remote areas which would otherwise have no connectivity.
SpaceX previously announced that it has given 40 families in Vice County, Virginia’s user terminal, access to its Starlink Internet service. The company has expanded its reach to two different counties in North Carolina – Swine County on the west side of the state and Hid County on the east coast.
Residents of both counties are unable to connect to traditional Internet services based on the geography of their respective locations. Neither county has broadband infrastructure or reliable cell service, so going to school during the epidemic was a challenge. During the launch broadcast, SpaceX announced that it would help students in these areas with broadband service.
Starlink is currently in beta-testing as SpaceX works to fill its initial constellation. Users in the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany and now New Zealand can access this service. SpaceX is taking bias when full commercial services begin later this year.
Falling ferries
For this mission, two net equipped boats of SpaceX, Mrs. Tree and Geo Ku. Chief, Geo Ms. In their place, SpaceX has deployed two of its Dragon Chasers: Go Finder and Go Navigator.
The pair are usually configured to retrieve dragon capsules out of the water, but they serve as a backup for the Fairing Catcher twins, and have been the main tool for proper recovery for the past few missions.
Both ferring pieces on this mission had flown earlier Transporter-1 mission in January, And with any luck, they will soon fly again. The success of any recovery efforts is announced about 45 minutes after the lift off.
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