The booster set to fly Tuesday has been used five times before.
SpaceX
As SpaceX sends out its latest batch of Starlink Broadband Satellites and some of Planet’s Earth-observing metal birds to spin this week, it will raise the bar again for rocket recovery.
The Falcon 9 boost that Elon Musk’s space company is currently set to launch Tuesday morning has previously flown on three previous Starlink missions, as well as two commercial gigs for satellite delivery. That means his flight this week will be his sixth, a new mark for a single orbital rocket.
“Some big milestones are coming up,” Musk said on Twitter, referring to the sixth flight of the booster (serial number B-1049) and the 100th mission for SpaceX on the history of the company.
Of course, the first stage of Falcon 9 could indeed set two new records on the same day, by launching first for the sixth time and then landing for the sixth time, which it will attempt on the droneship Of Course I Still Love You in the Atlantic Ocean.
The launch is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 7:31 p.m. PT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. As of Monday morning, the weather forecast had an 80 percent chance of being favorable for launch.
In addition to attempting a historic launch and landing, SpaceX will attempt to capture both halves of the nose seal that protect 58 Starlink satellites and three belonging to Earth imagery company Planet as they blow through the atmosphere. SpaceX has just recently perfected her method for picking up these parts, and we’ll see if it can make a habit of it and continue to expand its recycling program.
This will mark the 11th launch of a batch of Starlink satellites, the most recent happens on August 7th. The next one this week is set for September, and will be preceded by a Falcon 9 launch in late August of an Argentine satellite that was originally planned for a 2019 lift in 2019.
As usual, SpaceX will livestream the mission, and you can watch it via the feed above.
