{"id":37646,"date":"2020-04-21T17:00:33","date_gmt":"2020-04-21T09:00:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/falcon-9-becomes-u-s-rocket-leader-starlink-where-are-they-now-edition\/"},"modified":"2020-04-21T17:00:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-21T09:00:33","slug":"falcon-9-becomes-u-s-rocket-leader-starlink-where-are-they-now-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/falcon-9-becomes-u-s-rocket-leader-starlink-where-are-they-now-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Falcon 9 becomes U.S. rocket leader; Starlink \u201cwhere are they now\u201d edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

As SpaceX continued its steady march of Starlink internet satellite launches, the company reached a new milestone with the seventh flight of Starlink on Wednesday: Falcon 9 took the mantle of \u201cmost flown currently operational U.S. rocket\u201d from Atlas V.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, SpaceX is actively making moves on the ground, securing FCC permits for Starlink ground terminals\/stations across the United States.<\/p>\n

The seventh flight of Starlink satellites launched Wednesday, 22 April at 15:30 EDT (19:30 UTC) from LC-39A at the Kennedy Space Center.<\/p>\n

The U.S.\u2019s most flown, active rocket:<\/b><\/p>\n

This flight marked a major point in U.S. launch operations, as Falcon 9 reached 84 flights to its name and officially took the mantle from Atlas V as the most flown, currently operational U.S. rocket.<\/p>\n

Atlas V began flying on 21 August 2002 and has 83 flights to its name after 18 years \u2014 for an annual rate of 4.6 launches.<\/p>\n

Falcon 9 began flying on 4 June 2010 and will reach 84 flights in just under 10 years with a flight rate of 8.4 launches per year.<\/p>\n

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Falcon 9 in the transsonic regime during the sixth Starlink launch on 18 March 2020. (Credit: SpaceX)<\/p>\n

The changing of the guard \u2014 so to speak \u2014 is made all the more impressive by the fact that in its first three years, Falcon 9 only flew five times.<\/p>\n

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By June 2015, the rocket had 19 flights to its name \u2014 14 flights in two years compared to 5 flights in the first three years.<\/p>\n

In the second five years of operation, Falcon 9 amassed an impressive 65 flights (counting the seventh flight of Starlink on Wednesday) \u2014 an average of 13 missions a year.<\/p>\n

At this point, given Falcon 9\u2019s launch rate, it is highly unlikely Atlas V will recapture its top spot.<\/p>\n

Atlas V has one mission in May and a following mission in July.<\/p>\n

In that same time period, SpaceX has at least five missions planned (the 8th, 9th, and 10th flights of Starlink in May, June, and July; the Demo-2 crew flight to the International Space Station in May; and the GPS-III mission in June).<\/p>\n

Moreover, the impressive rise of Falcon 9 occurred while SpaceX actively redesigned \u2014 in some cases, radically \u2014 the rocket through numerous changes, culminating more or less in the Block 5 design flying today.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the company implemented reusability with the Falcon 9 to a scale that sent U.S. and global competitors scrambling to design lower-cost and\/or reusable rocket systems.<\/p>\n

And all this while Falcon Heavy was developed, test flown, and entered operation.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n