SpaceX launches 24 Starlink satellites
SpaceX today successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its thirteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
18 SpaceX
9 China
2 Iran
2 India
2 Rocket Lab
2 Japan
2 Russia
American private enterprise now leads the entire world combined 21 to 17 in successful launches, while SpaceX by itself now leads the the rest of the world (excluding other American companies) 18 to 17.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
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SpaceX today successfully launched another 24 Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 rocket lifting off from Cape Canaveral.
The first stage completed its thirteenth flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
18 SpaceX
9 China
2 Iran
2 India
2 Rocket Lab
2 Japan
2 Russia
American private enterprise now leads the entire world combined 21 to 17 in successful launches, while SpaceX by itself now leads the the rest of the world (excluding other American companies) 18 to 17.
The support of my readers through the years has given me the freedom and ability to analyze objectively the ongoing renaissance in space, as well as the cultural changes -- for good or ill -- that are happening across America. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
Fourteen years ago I wrote that SLS and Orion were a bad ideas, a waste of money, would be years behind schedule, and better replaced by commercial private enterprise. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to recognize this reality.
In 2020 when the world panicked over COVID I wrote that the panic was unnecessary, that the virus was apparently simply a variation of the flu, that masks were not simply pointless but if worn incorrectly were a health threat, that the lockdowns were a disaster and did nothing to stop the spread of COVID. Only in the past year have some of our so-called experts in the health field have begun to recognize these facts.
Your help allows me to do this kind of intelligent analysis. I take no advertising or sponsors, so my reporting isn't influenced by donations by established space or drug companies. Instead, I rely entirely on donations and subscriptions from my readers, which gives me the freedom to write what I think, unencumbered by outside influences.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five ways of doing so:
1. Zelle: This is the only internet method that charges no fees. All you have to do is use the Zelle link at your internet bank and give my name and email address (zimmerman at nasw dot org). What you donate is what I get.
2. Patreon: Go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation.
3. A Paypal Donation:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
You can also support me by buying one of my books, as noted in the boxes interspersed throughout the webpage or shown in the menu above. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
We are very fortunate to have Elon—but outside of other billionaires, Musk is the exception—and the many disappointments of Gary Hudson the rule.
And notice, with the Starlink V2 Mini’s they started with 21 per launch, inched up to 22, then 23 and now 24. Part of that is inserting to lower orbits, where the Starlinks can drive themselves out of but would reenter within a week.
But mass to orbit is now 17.5Metric tonnes. Which was 16.8 I think think before.
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1762019803630563800
I note SpaceX saving weight and complexity by eliminating the discardable stiffening ring on the second-stage MVac engine bell, and wonder what other invisible changes have been made to adds up to the mass of satellite #24?
It will be interesting to see whether the upcoming Commercial Crew #8 launch has an MVac ring. By NASA’s rules constraining modifications to human-rated vehicles, I would assume it should retain the ring.
Roscosmos has successfully launched 2 missions Soyuz 2.1 in 2024, both in Feb. Wonder why you omitted these from your count.
Valued Customer: This was a mistake of cut and paste. Russia with 2 launches was included in previous updates. It just got dropped by accident. I have put it back in. Thanks for pointing it out.