SpaceX is continuing to deploy its Starlink constellation with the successful launch on May 4 of a second batch of sixty satellites in less than a week. Engineers are preparing for a new launch scheduled in a few days involving the tenth flight of the same booster. This is unheard of.
A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Tuesday, May 4 at 9:01 p.m. (French time), marking SpaceX's thirteenth launch of the year. On Star Wars Day (May the 4th, in reference to the famous line "may the Force be with you “), the seventy-meter-tall launch vehicle was named after the Millennium Falcon, in reference to the iconic spaceship piloted by Han Solo.
This pitcher, a veteran, had eight flights already to his credit. It is to date the second SpaceX booster to fly nine times . The Falcon then returned to land at sea about eight minutes later. The rocket's second stage, meanwhile, released its payload of sixty Starlink satellites just over an hour after launch.
This launch comes less than a week after the previous Starlink launch on April 28. Of the thirteen attempted and successful launches by the company so far this year, ten have been dedicated to Starlink satellites. To date, 1,500 of these structures are currently in orbit.
SpaceX previously suggested that its Falcon 9 boosters could fly up to ten times . We will soon have the heart net. Indeed, scheduled for May 9 at the earliest, the next launch the company should use the first Falcon 9 booster having flown nine times, most recently in March. In other words, for the very first time, a rocket will soar into space for the tenth time. In the aerospace industry, this is unheard of.
In reality, these first stages might even have a longer lifespan . This number of ten was indeed a symbolic milestone. In February, Hans Koenigsmann, senior adviser for construction and flight reliability at SpaceX, pointed out that if this flight is a success, engineers will try to make it fly some more.
"There doesn't seem to be any obvious limit to vehicle reusability “, then confirmed Elon Musk on April 23, during a NASA press conference held after the launch of Crew-2. “We intend to fly this booster until we have a failure with the Starlink missions “.
In the meantime, SpaceX is continuing to develop its Starlink constellation. Recently, the Federal Communications Commission authorized the company to operate 2,814 of its satellites in lower-than-expected orbits.
The Starlink service remains in the beta testing phase in the United States and several other countries, such as the United Kingdom. This phase could be completed as early as this summer. To date, more than half a million people have already deposited a deposit to pay for the company's Internet services.
