SpaceX launches another 22 Starlink satellites
In its second launch from Cape Canaveral in less than 24 hours, SpaceX today placed another 22 Starlink satellites into orbit, using its Falcon 9 rocket.
The first stage completed its third flight, landing successfully on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
59 SpaceX
37 China
12 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
In the national rankings, American private enterprise now leads China in successful launches 68 to 37. It also leads the entire world combined, 68 to 60, while SpaceX by itself now trails the rest of the world (excluding American companies) 59 to 60 in successful launches.
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In its second launch from Cape Canaveral in less than 24 hours, SpaceX today placed another 22 Starlink satellites into orbit, using its Falcon 9 rocket.
The first stage completed its third flight, landing successfully on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2023 launch race:
59 SpaceX
37 China
12 Russia
7 Rocket Lab
In the national rankings, American private enterprise now leads China in successful launches 68 to 37. It also leads the entire world combined, 68 to 60, while SpaceX by itself now trails the rest of the world (excluding American companies) 59 to 60 in successful launches.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows 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. 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. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally 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.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four 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 or subscription:
4. 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.
My wife saw her first Starlink satellite “train” a while back while stargazing in Yellowstone Park. We had no clue what it was initially, but her friend found a reference to it the next day and we did some ‘net surfing. We found a site that provides a schedule of potential viewing of the trains here:
https://findstarlink.com
The next night was forecast to be good visibility and we were lucky with the weather. Right on time they popped over the mountain to our west and in an almost perfect line proceeded to the east-southeast where, when they hit the Milky Way, seemd to drop out of existence as they passed into the Earth’s shadow.
It’s too bad that this latest launch doesn’t have any good visibility for us here, but I keep checking after each launch to see if we’ll be able to spot them. The train is really incredibly bright and fast-moving due to the low orbits. I could easily see people mistaking them for some manned object since they formation is so linear.
Some scuttlebutt that SuperHeavy will go to 42 engines
https://forum.cosmoquest.org/forum/science-and-space/space-exploration/126015-spacex-except-for-starlink?p=3719903#post3719903
I post some ideas about water hammer here in the comments section:
https://spacenews.com/spacex-test-fires-booster-for-second-starship-launch/
Some future models of Starship will almost certainly get three more Raptor vacuum engines apiece which would bring the engine count for the entire Starship stack to 42 – 33 on Super Heavy and 9 on up-engined Starships. This would make excellent sense for, say, tanker Starships and those designed to carry Starlink V2 and successor satellites. Three more Rvac engines would allow a swifter ascent of a heavier payload at higher Gs. Propellant is insensitive to G forces and Starlink sats can be designed to be too.
There is no room for 42 engines on Super Heavy itself. If SpaceX ever builds a Super Duper Heavy with 42 engines, it will have to have a larger base diameter and will require a new launch platform as the current one would be too small.
That makes sense.
I hadn’t seen you at space news…everything okay?
As I read it, the scuttlebutt says 42 engines total, between the two stages, achieved by adding three more vacuum Raptors to the second stage, the Starship. As noted by another commenter, there isn’t any more room in the Superheavy.
By the way, this launch seemed somewhat “old school” in terms of presentation, and booster return profile. And of course, success.
BTW came across this article today. Gives insight into the thinking of the left wing opposition to Musk.
https://mashable.com/article/spacex-starship-launch-environmental-damage
“A group of blue land crabs and seven bobwhite quail eggs were “incinerated” by the launch.”
Quite the tragedy.
Funniest line is the last one:
“Pad site was totally destroyed and will likely force them to re-design the whole thing,” the official wrote. “Probably won’t see another launch for a while.””
The article was published the day after the successful static fire of SH on the fully rebuilt, water deluge equipped pad!
Suppose the Wildlife official is used to gov’t timelines.
I imagine Musk would have liked to have been able to say something like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7-tskP0OzI
https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/regs/animals/quail
https://tpwd.texas.gov/regulations/outdoor-annual/fishing/shellfish-regulations/crab-and-ghost-shrimp-legal-devices-and-restrictions
There is also a blue land crab and all three are legal to hunt and harvest.
Complaining about them being inside the launch area is like complaining about deer being in the road.
My favorite shuttle video
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zTCjx5DEPkE
Robert
It is great that you track this, huge thanks.
But there should really be a standard database that contains the number of kilograms, number of satellites, number of astronauts, and miles from earth for every launch on the planet.
Does anyone know of one, or do one of us here need to create an open source one?
Thanks for all you do.
David K: Your idea has been proposed multiple times. It is worthwhile information, but more work than I wish to do, since my goal remains tracking actual concrete success in getting into orbit.
If someone wanted to do it the math and provide it for me to post here periodically, I would be glad to do so. Any volunteers?