SpaceX launches 52 Starlink satellites, lands rocket at sea
SpaceX launched a further major batch of its Starlink web satellites to orbit and landed a rocket on a ship at sea on Tuesday (Aug. 9).
A two-phase Falcon 9 rocket topped with 52 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy House Center in Florida Tuesday at 10:14 p.m. EDT (0214 GMT on Aug. 10).
A tiny much less than 9 minutes right after start, the Falcon 9’s first phase arrived back again to Earth for a vertical landing on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coastline.
The Falcon 9 higher stage, in the meantime, ongoing powering its way to reduced Earth orbit, inevitably deploying the Starlink satellites as prepared about 15 minutes right after liftoff, SpaceX verified by using Twitter (opens in new tab).
Connected: SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation launches in pics
Starlink is SpaceX’s net megaconstellation, which beams broadband company to hundreds of hundreds of persons around the globe. Elon Musk’s business has now introduced much more than 3,000 Starlink satellites (opens in new tab) to orbit, but many additional will likely go up SpaceX has permission to loft 12,000 of the craft and has used for acceptance to launch 30,000 a lot more on top of that.
Tonight’s launch was the firm’s 21st Starlink mission of 2022 and its 35th orbital flight of the yr total, introducing to a SpaceX document. The firm’s prior mark for most orbital missions in a yr was 31, established in 2021.
Rocket reuse is a huge priority for SpaceX, which sights it as a breakthrough that will support make Mars colonization feasible.
The Falcon 9 initial stage that flew on Tuesday by now experienced two spaceflights beneath its belt, according to a SpaceX mission description (opens in new tab). That’s spectacular, but it is far from the SpaceX record three unique Falcon 9 boosters have introduced 13 orbital missions to day.
The Starlink start was section of a extremely energetic day for SpaceX. Also these days, the corporation executed “static fireplace” motor checks at its South Texas facility with Booster 7 and Ship 24, prototypes of its Starship deep-place transportation technique.
SpaceX is preparing Booster 7 and Ship 24 for the Starship program’s to start with-at any time orbital take a look at flight, which the organization aims to launch in the coming months.
Editor’s take note: This tale was updated at 4:20 p.m. EDT on Aug. 9 to contain the webcast information and to suitable the predicted time of satellite deployment (to approximately 15 minutes after liftoff, rather than an hour). It was up to date once again at 10:43 p.m. EDT with information of the thriving start and landing and the Booster 7 and Ship 24 static fireplace assessments.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018 illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide about the look for for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Stick to us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Fb (opens in new tab).
SpaceX launched a further major batch of its Starlink web satellites to orbit and landed a rocket on a ship at sea on Tuesday (Aug. 9).
A two-phase Falcon 9 rocket topped with 52 Starlink spacecraft lifted off from NASA’s Kennedy House Center in Florida Tuesday at 10:14 p.m. EDT (0214 GMT on Aug. 10).
A tiny much less than 9 minutes right after start, the Falcon 9’s first phase arrived back again to Earth for a vertical landing on the SpaceX droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas, which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean off the Florida coastline.
The Falcon 9 higher stage, in the meantime, ongoing powering its way to reduced Earth orbit, inevitably deploying the Starlink satellites as prepared about 15 minutes right after liftoff, SpaceX verified by using Twitter (opens in new tab).
Connected: SpaceX’s Starlink megaconstellation launches in pics
Starlink is SpaceX’s net megaconstellation, which beams broadband company to hundreds of hundreds of persons around the globe. Elon Musk’s business has now introduced much more than 3,000 Starlink satellites (opens in new tab) to orbit, but many additional will likely go up SpaceX has permission to loft 12,000 of the craft and has used for acceptance to launch 30,000 a lot more on top of that.
Tonight’s launch was the firm’s 21st Starlink mission of 2022 and its 35th orbital flight of the yr total, introducing to a SpaceX document. The firm’s prior mark for most orbital missions in a yr was 31, established in 2021.
Rocket reuse is a huge priority for SpaceX, which sights it as a breakthrough that will support make Mars colonization feasible.
The Falcon 9 initial stage that flew on Tuesday by now experienced two spaceflights beneath its belt, according to a SpaceX mission description (opens in new tab). That’s spectacular, but it is far from the SpaceX record three unique Falcon 9 boosters have introduced 13 orbital missions to day.
The Starlink start was section of a extremely energetic day for SpaceX. Also these days, the corporation executed “static fireplace” motor checks at its South Texas facility with Booster 7 and Ship 24, prototypes of its Starship deep-place transportation technique.
SpaceX is preparing Booster 7 and Ship 24 for the Starship program’s to start with-at any time orbital take a look at flight, which the organization aims to launch in the coming months.
Editor’s take note: This tale was updated at 4:20 p.m. EDT on Aug. 9 to contain the webcast information and to suitable the predicted time of satellite deployment (to approximately 15 minutes after liftoff, rather than an hour). It was up to date once again at 10:43 p.m. EDT with information of the thriving start and landing and the Booster 7 and Ship 24 static fireplace assessments.
Mike Wall is the author of “Out There (opens in new tab)” (Grand Central Publishing, 2018 illustrated by Karl Tate), a guide about the look for for alien life. Comply with him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in new tab). Stick to us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in new tab) or on Fb (opens in new tab).