SpaceX launches another 60 Starlink satellites
Capitalism in space: SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 60 Starlink satellites using its Falcon 9 rocket.
The first stage completed its fifth flight, landing successfully on the drone ship in the Atlantic. Both fairings were also used.
The 2021 launch race:
4 SpaceX
2 China
1 Rocket Lab
1 Virgin Orbit
1 Russia
The U.S. now leads China 6 to 2 in the national rankings. SpaceX had planned another launch later this morning, but they have delayed that launch one day until tomorrow.
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Capitalism in space: SpaceX tonight successfully launched another 60 Starlink satellites using its Falcon 9 rocket.
The first stage completed its fifth flight, landing successfully on the drone ship in the Atlantic. Both fairings were also used.
The 2021 launch race:
4 SpaceX
2 China
1 Rocket Lab
1 Virgin Orbit
1 Russia
The U.S. now leads China 6 to 2 in the national rankings. SpaceX had planned another launch later this morning, but they have delayed that launch one day until tomorrow.
Please consider donating to Behind the Black, by giving either a one-time contribution or a regular subscription, as outlined in the tip jar 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.
Your support is even more essential to me because I keep this site free from advertisements and do not participate in corrupt social media companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I depend wholly on the direct support of my readers.
You can provide that support to Behind The Black with a contribution via Patreon or PayPal. To use Patreon, go to my website there and pick one of five monthly subscription amounts, or by making a one-time donation. For PayPal click one of the following buttons:
If Patreon or Paypal don't work for you, you can support Behind The Black directly by sending your donation by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman, to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
Cortaro, AZ 85652
Interestingly this was the Starlink-18 mission, which jumped ahead of Starlink-17 that has been delaying, one day at a time for over a week.
Also it was a 27 day reuse (jan 7th was last flight) so fastest turnaround (previous 38 days on a mission earlier in Jan, and before that 51 days) so far. And it is on a downward trend of time to refurb, which also means it is cheaper to refurb since one of the main cost drivers is man-hours.
geoffc—
great factoids!
Anyone done a back-o-the-envelope guesstimate on what the marginal cost to launch each starlink satellite, actually is?
Biden purposefully curtailing Musk and Spacex in order to give the Chinese an advantage?
” It is unlikely that the Biden administration seeks to continue that policy, as the Biden team attempts to stabilize deteriorating relations with Beijing over the next few years.”
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/feb/3/biden-cancels-elon-musks-adventures-in-space/
Nah, Joe Biden would never do something to give the Chinese an advantage over America regarding space. Silly.
I wonder if “The smartest guy”, Joe knows, his son Hunter, is advising him on China? Nah, again, silly.
SpaceX has become a space superpower all unto itself.
Elon needs to learn how to offer a bribe to the Bidens… offer to let Joe be ceremonial valet parking attendant on OCISLY, and Hunter can do the honors on JRTI.
Pretty soon, Elon’s walking into the Oval Office saying “Those drapes have GOT to go!!”