Another successful Falcon 9 launch
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The competition heats up: SpaceX has successfully completed its fifth Falcon 9 launch of the year, putting a Turkmenistan’s first communications satellite into orbit.
This was the 18th consecutive successful launch for the Falcon 9, and the 13th in a row for its upgraded design. Not bad for a company that did not even exist a little more than a decade ago.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar to the right or below. Your support will allow me to continue covering science and culture as I have for the past twenty years, independent and free from any outside influence.
The competition heats up: SpaceX has successfully completed its fifth Falcon 9 launch of the year, putting a Turkmenistan’s first communications satellite into orbit.
This was the 18th consecutive successful launch for the Falcon 9, and the 13th in a row for its upgraded design. Not bad for a company that did not even exist a little more than a decade ago.
when does the booster come down? Will this be an attempt at a launchpad return?
The booster came down immediately, mere minutes after launch, crashing in the ocean. Because this mission was to put a heavier communications satellite in high geosynchronous orbit (24,000 miles high), not low Earth orbit, they needed all the first stage fuel for doing that. No attempt was made to land the first stage.
Their next first stage landing attempt is likely to be in June, during the next Dragon launch.
With every successful launch their dependability and reliability reputation grows. The engineering is solid, costs are low, and the new ideas are fun to watch, but their business will grow because they can be depended on to deliver payloads into space on schedule. This is how its done.
I was fortunate enough to witness this launch, coinciding with my visit to KSC that Monday. I’ve been wanting to see such a thing since I was a little kid, and that’s sure taken care of! The following video was taken by someone nearby – it actually captures the sound of the launch rather well (especially if you crank the volume, lol).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MM7G0fxLlPU
You were very close. When I saw the next to last shuttle launch, we were much farther away.
Looking at a map, it turns out I was further away from the filmer than I thought, with a 5.5-mile view at the Saturn-V exhibit. Still pretty awesome.
There’s a lot of interesting things going on at KSC. One of the mobile launch pads has a tall Saturn-V-style tower mounted for the SLS (and perhaps other rockets?). Pad 39B is almost completely cleared of structures, with construction ongoing. Pad 39A still has its tower, with some shuttle-specific gear still visible, but now has a large horizontal hangar being built by SpaceX for the Falcon Heavy. It’s surprisingly close by to the pad, just outside its perimeter fence.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/musematt11/17215140730/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/musematt11/16782449193/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/spacexphotos/16872836499/