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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
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!!”