{"id":11804,"date":"2021-03-14T18:13:05","date_gmt":"2021-03-14T10:13:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/spacex-extends-its-own-rocket-reuse-record-on-starlink-launch\/"},"modified":"2021-03-14T18:13:05","modified_gmt":"2021-03-14T10:13:05","slug":"spacex-extends-its-own-rocket-reuse-record-on-starlink-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/spacex-extends-its-own-rocket-reuse-record-on-starlink-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"SpaceX extends its own rocket reuse record on Starlink launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center on Sunday. Credit: Stephen Clark \/ Spaceflight Now<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Using a Falcon 9 booster flying for a record ninth time, SpaceX\u2019s swift sequence of launches continued Sunday with a predawn liftoff from the Kennedy Space Center carrying another set of 60 Starlink internet satellites, the company\u2019s third mission in 10 days.<\/p>\n

The 229-foot-tall (70-meter) Falcon 9 rocket climbed away from pad 39A at Kennedy and arced toward the northeast and propelled its 17-ton (15.6-metric ton) payload into space.<\/p>\n

The launcher took off at 6:01:26 a.m. EST (1001:26 GMT) powered by nine kerosene-fueled Merlin main engines to kick off SpaceX\u2019s eighth Falcon 9 launch of the year.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 vaulted into the early morning sky with 1.7 million pounds of ground-shaking thrust.<\/p>\n

The launch was the third Falcon 9 flight in 10 days from two Florida launch pads a few miles apart. The two previous Falcon 9 flights March 4 and March 11 each carried 60 Starlink satellites into orbit.<\/p>\n

The launch Sunday was a near carbon copy of the two missions earlier this month, flying with a reused Falcon 9 booster, a recycled payload shroud, and a stack of flat-panel Starlink spacecraft.<\/p>\n

But the mission set a new record for SpaceX\u2019s rocket reuse program. The Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s first stage booster \u2014 designated B1051 \u2014 made its ninth trip to space and back, the first vehicle in SpaceX\u2019s inventory to log so many missions.<\/p>\n

Another booster in SpaceX\u2019s fleet has eight missions to its credit.<\/p>\n

The booster on Sunday\u2019s launch debuted in March 2019 on a mission carrying SpaceX\u2019s first Crew Dragon spaceship on an unpiloted test flight to the International Space Station. Since then, the booster has launched a constellation of Canadian Radarsat observation satellites from California, followed by six more missions from Florida.<\/p>\n

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The Falcon 9 booster flown Sunday had launched and landed on eight previous missions. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The booster appeared to perform flawlessly again Sunday. Its nine Merlin main engines shut down about two-and-a-half minutes into the mission, then the stage separated to begin a descent toward SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cOf Course I Still Love You\u201d in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

The 15-story booster touched down vertically on the football field-sized floating platform around 400 miles (630 kilometers) northeast of Cape Canaveral about eight-and-a-half minutes after it took off.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage, meanwhile, guided the 60 Starlink satellites into orbit. Two firings of the upper stage\u2019s single Merlin engine injected the satellites into an on-target orbit, SpaceX said.<\/p>\n

The rocket released the satellites all at once at an altitude of 175 miles (283 kilometers) at 7:05 a.m. EDT (1105 GMT), about 64 minutes after blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n

With Sunday\u2019s launch, SpaceX has sent 1,325 Starlink satellites into orbit on a series of Falcon 9 missions. Some of those satellites were prototypes and have re-entered the atmosphere and burned up. Jonathan McDowell, an astronomer at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics and a respected tracker of spaceflight activity, said SpaceX currently had about 1,200 Starlink satellites in orbit before Sunday\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

The launch Sunday was SpaceX\u2019s 22nd dedicated Falcon 9 mission with Starlink satellites.<\/p>\n

The Starlink network could eventually number more than 10,000 satellites, but the first tranche of Starlinks will have 1,584 satellites orbiting 341 miles (550 kilometers) above Earth on paths tilted 53 degrees to the equator. SpaceX has approval from the Federal Communications Commission for around 12,000 Starlink satellites at a range of altitudes and inclinations, all within a few hundred miles of the planet. The low altitude enables the satellites to deliver high-speed, low-latency connectivity to customers, and helps ensure the spacecraft naturally re-enter the atmosphere faster than if they flew farther from Earth.<\/p>\n

Starlink is already providing interim beta service across high latitude regions, such as the northern United States, Canada, and England. More Starlink launches this year will enable an expanded coverage area.<\/p>\n

SpaceX announced earlier this month that the Starlink beta service will soon begin reaching customers in Germany, New Zealand, and in other regions of the United Kingdom, including Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and northern England. Those areas could receive beta service in the \u201ccoming weeks,\u201d SpaceX said.<\/p>\n

SpaceX is accepting pre-orders from would-be Starlink consumers, who can pay $99 to reserve their place in line to get Starlink service when it becomes available in their area. For people in the southern United States and other lower-latitude regions, that should come by late 2021, SpaceX says.<\/p>\n

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The Falcon 9 booster flown Sunday stands on SpaceX\u2019s drone ship \u201cOf Course I Still Love You\u201d after landing. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once confirmed, customers will pay $499 for a Starlink antenna and modem, plus $50 in shipping and handling, SpaceX says. A subscription will run $99 per month.<\/p>\n

The Starlink satellites are built by SpaceX in Redmond, Washington, and each spacecraft weighs about a quarter-ton at liftoff. They are fitted with power-generating solar array wings, krypton ion thrusters for propulsion, and visors to dim their brightness to people on the ground, a mitigation added to Starlink satellites last year after astronomers raised concerns the spacecraft would ruin some telescopic observations.<\/p>\n

Like previous Starlink launches, the satellites deployed Sunday separated from their Falcon 9 launcher Sunday in a lower-altitude transfer orbit, then will use their ion thrusters to move higher into the operational Starlink fleet at 341 miles altitude.<\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s recovery team will return the drone ship with the Falcon 9 booster to Port Canaveral in the coming days for inspections and refurbishment ahead of a potential 10th flight. Boats were also stationed downrange to retrieve the two halves of the Falcon 9\u2019s payload fairing, which dropped away from the rocket after it soared above the dense, lower layers of the atmosphere.<\/p>\n