SpaceX Falcon 9 booster equals flight report, however no touchdown this time
SpaceX flew a first-stage Falcon 9 booster for the twentieth time on Saturday, equalling a report set by another Falcon 9 booster earlier this month.
Reusing components of the rocket is an integral a part of SpaceX’s flight system and has enabled the corporate to dramatically cut back the price of launches. Besides the booster, SpaceX additionally reuses the Falcon 9’s Dragon spacecraft and rocket fairing.
Saturday’s mission lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 8:34 p.m. ET. It launched a satellite tv for pc for the European Commission’s Galileo international navigation system. However, the mission took the first-stage Falcon 9 booster to a higher-than-usual orbit, stopping the workforce from bringing it again dwelling for a twentieth touchdown.
The booster first flew in June 2020 and beforehand launched GPS III-3, Turksat 5A, Transporter-2, Intelsat G-33/G-34, Transporter-6, Intuitive Machines IM-1, and greater than a dozen Starlink missions.
Following Saturday’s launch, SpaceX posted a message on social media celebrating the rocket’s achievements over its lifetime. “This Falcon 9 first stage has launched ~200 spacecraft as part of our Rideshare program, supported 13 Starlink missions to help connect people all around the world with high-speed, low-latency internet, sent a lunar lander to the moon, and more. In total, this Falcon delivered 228+ metric tons to Earth orbit and beyond,” it mentioned.
This Falcon 9 first stage has launched ~200 spacecraft as a part of our Rideshare program, supported 13 @Starlink missions to assist join folks all all over the world with high-speed, low-latency web, despatched a lunar lander to the Moon, and extra. In complete, this Falcon delivered… pic.twitter.com/IDul5eJIum
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) April 28, 2024
SpaceX additionally expressed thanks for individuals who had helped to make sure that the booster achieved 20 profitable missions, providing congratulations to its workforce of engineers “for all the science, research, connectivity, and exploration you’ve helped enable with this single Falcon 9 rocket.”
The Elon Musk-led firm famous that the final time {that a} first stage was expended throughout a Falcon 9 mission was 146 flights in the past in November 2022, including that on most Falcon 9 missions, “enough propellant remains in the first stage after stage separation to enable landing, recovery, and ultimately reuse on future missions.”
It additionally mentioned that it’s working towards qualifying its fleet of Falcon boosters and fairings to assist 40 missions every, explaining that “increasing Falcon’s flight count provides valuable information on repeated reuse, a critical element for making life multiplanetary with Starship,” its next-generation rocket that in March took its third and most successful flight test so far.
