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The booster that will fly on Tuesday has already been used five times.
SpaceX
When SpaceX sends its last batch of Starlink broadband satellites and some of the Earth observation metal birds of the planet orbiting this week, this will once again raise the bar for rocket recycling.
The Falcon 9 booster that Elon Musk’s space company is currently set to launch on Tuesday morning has already been on three previous Starlink missions, as well as two commercial satellite delivery gigs. That means its flight this week will be its sixth, a brand new one for a single orbital rocket.
“Some big steps to come,” Musk said on Twitter, referring to the booster’s sixth flight (serial number B-1049) and SpaceX’s 100th mission in the company’s history.
Obviously, the Falcon 9’s first stage could actually set two new records on the same day, 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 a.m. PT, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida. On Monday morning, the weather forecast had an 80% chance of being favorable for launch.
In addition to attempting a historic launch and landing, SpaceX will attempt to grab the two halves of the nose cone that will protect 58 Starlink satellites and three belonging to the Earth imaging company Planet as they explode in the atmosphere. SpaceX comes from recently perfected his method to salvage those components, and we’ll see if he can make a habit of it and continue to expand his recycling program.
This will mark the 11th launch of a batch of Starlink satellites, the most recent August 7. The next after this week is scheduled for September and will be preceded by the launch of the Falcon 9 at the end of August from an Argentinian satellite initially scheduled for take-off in 2019.
As usual, SpaceX will broadcast the mission live and you can watch it via the stream above.
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