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CAP CANAVERAL, Florida – A SpaceX The Falcon 9 rocket launched a new batch of 60 Starlink internet satellites into orbit Monday evening (February 15), but failed to maintain its landing on a floating platform at sea.
The two stages Falcon 9 Booster, topped by the 60 broadband spacecraft, took off from Space Launch Complex 40 here at the Cape Canaveral Space Station at 10:59 p.m. EST (12:59 GMT on February 16). About nine minutes later, the first stage of the rocket returned to Earth to attempt its sixth landing on SpaceX’s “Of course I still love you” drone “in the Atlantic Ocean,” but missed its mark.
“It looks like we didn’t land our booster on Of Course I Still Love You Tonight,” SpaceX manufacturing engineer Jessica Anderson said during the live launch commentary. “It’s a shame we didn’t get this booster back but our second leg is still on a nominal course.”
SpaceX prefers to salvage its Falcon 9 rocket stages for reuse, but the company has also repeatedly said that putting a flight’s payload into orbit is still the primary mission.
Video: Watch SpaceX’s Falcon 9 launch 60 Starlink satellites
Related: SpaceX’s Starlink satellite mega-constellation in photos
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One of SpaceX’s frequent travelers put this latest Starlink mission into orbit. The thruster, dubbed B1059, has already carried two different SpaceX Dragon cargo refueling missions to the International Space Station – CRS-19 in December 2019 and CRS-20 in March 2020 – a Starlink mission last June, an observation satellite from Earth to Argentina. (SAOCOM-1B in August 2020), and a spy satellite for the US government as part of the NROL-108 mission in December.
Tonight’s launch was the first of two scheduled Starlink takeoffs in a week; Another 60 satellites are expected to take off on Wednesday (February 17) on another Falcon 9. The rapid succession is due to the fact that SpaceX recently had to move around its scheduled Starlink missions due to weather and material issues. a bit of a challenge.
This mission, dubbed Starlink 19, progressed after the takeoff of SpaceX’s 18th Starlink mission on February 4. Both flights passed Starlink 17, which was originally scheduled to launch on February 1. He was supposed to fly on one of SpaceX’s two most frequent flights. leaflets, B1049, the mission has been repeatedly delayed and is now expected to take off just after midnight on February 17.
During initial mission planning, SpaceX targeted the launch of two Starlink missions within hours of each other – a first for the Space Coast since 1966, when a Gemini rocket was followed by an Atlas Agena for just 99 minutes. later. In the end, the dual mission did not happen, but in a move unprecedented for the era of commercial spaceflight, the Eastern Range (the agency that oversees launches along the East Coast) approved two missions to be launched in quick succession.
That’s a feat we could see happen at a later date, especially as more launch vendors become active and more launches take off from Florida. Last year there were a record 31 launches for the year, and 2021 could be even busier as the 45th Space Wing prepares for at least 40 missions.
Related: See the evolution of SpaceX rockets in pictures
Double the launches
Originally slated for launch on Sunday evening, SpaceX had to pull out due to bad weather at the launch site. Thunderstorms hit Florida last weekend, preventing the flight from taking off.
Conditions improved on Monday and the Falcon 9 was able to fly, marking SpaceX’s fifth launch of the year and allowing the company to anticipate its next mission. Another stack of Starlink satellites is about to take off from SpaceX’s other Florida launch site at Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center here.
The mission was also the 108th flight in total for SpaceX’s workhorse Falcon 9. It would have marked the company’s 75th rocket landing if the Falcon 9 had blocked its landing.
To retrieve its returning boosters, SpaceX uses two huge floating landing pads – “Of course, I still love you” and “Just Read the Instructions” – in addition to its landing pads, which allow the company to launch (and land) more rockets. Typically, drones see most of the action as it takes more fuel reserves to land on land than to land at sea.
The version of Falcon 9 we see today is an improved version of its predecessors, capable of flying multiple times with only minor renovations in between. This is due to a series of upgrades received by Falcon 9 in 2018 – including a more robust thermal protection system, titanium grille fins, and a more durable inter-stage – which make reuse easier.
As such, this fleet of more capable rockets has enabled SpaceX to perform more missions. The company launched a record 26 times in 2020, with 22 of those flights on veteran rockets.
The company aims to break that record in 2021, as it hopes to launch at least 40 rockets between its launch facilities in California and Florida.
Building a mega-stellation
With the success of tonight’s launch, SpaceX now has more than 1,000 Starlink satellites in orbit. And there are many more launches to come; SpaceX’s initial Starlink constellation will consist of 1,440 satellites, and the company has applied for approval for dozens of thousands After.
The company launched its massive constellation, which is more numerous than any other constellation currently in orbit, with the primary purpose of connecting the globe.
To this end, SpaceX has designed a fleet of flat-panel broadband satellites that will fly over the Earth, providing users around the world with Internet coverage.
Tonight’s flight comes just days after SpaceX began offering pre-orders to the public. Last week, the company opened its website to potential customers on a first-come, first-served basis, while the company conducts an extensive international and domestic beta testing phase.
Potential users can order material and sign up for the service, which could take six months or more to become available, according to the website.
SpaceX entered its ‘better-than-nothing’ beta testing phase in 2020, as the company let its employees put the burgeoning satellite service to the test.
Company founder and CEO Elon Musk said there would need to be between 500 and 800 Starlink satellites in orbit before cover could begin to deploy. Once this step was taken, the company began to test its new service.
Early reports from employees indicated that the service was working and even allowed the streaming of multiple high-definition programs at the same time. Shortly after, SpaceX invited users to start testing its service, while continuing to launch more and more satellites.
The company got permission to start rolling out its service to users in the UK earlier this year and even grabbed its first Canadian customer last December.
Pikangikum First Nation was able to use the service to connect its members and provide access to education programs as well as telemedicine and more.
SpaceX’s very big year: Astronaut launch, spaceship tests and more
Drop fairings
GO Ms. Tree and GO Ms. Chief, the two boats equipped with SpaceX nets are also stationed in the Atlantic. The dynamic duo will retrieve the rocket nose cone (otherwise known as the payload shroud), after both pieces fall back to Earth.
Equipped with special navigation software and parachutes, the two halves of the protective shell will guide themselves towards Earth and will likely be evacuated out of the water after the splash.
Sometimes SpaceX catches fairings falling in the air, but that depends on the winds and weather conditions. Recovery efforts are usually announced by SpaceX 45 minutes after takeoff.
Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
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