SpaceX successfully launches 49 Starlink satellites and a D-Orbit space tugSpaceX today successfully used its Falcon 9 rocket to launch 49 Starlink satellites as well as a D-Orbit space tug carrying one of its own customer’s satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage successfully completed its seventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The D-Orbit tug with its four payloads has also successfully deployed.
The 2023 launch race:
7 SpaceX
5 China
1 Rocket Lab
1 Japan
American private enterprise leads China 8 to 5 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 8 to 6.
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 print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
SpaceX today successfully used its Falcon 9 rocket to launch 49 Starlink satellites as well as a D-Orbit space tug carrying one of its own customer’s satellites from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
The first stage successfully completed its seventh flight, landing on a drone ship in the Pacific. The D-Orbit tug with its four payloads has also successfully deployed.
The 2023 launch race:
7 SpaceX
5 China
1 Rocket Lab
1 Japan
American private enterprise leads China 8 to 5 in the national rankings, and the entire world combined 8 to 6.
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 print edition can be purchased at Amazon or from any other book seller. If you want an autographed copy the price is $60 for the hardback and $45 for the paperback, plus $8 shipping for each. Go here for purchasing details. 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
As the month closes, it is interesting to see how much of a dent, the Falcon Heavy took on SpaceX’s launch cadence. Those 7 flights, were 2 from Vandenberg, 1 from LC-39A, and 4 from SLC-40.
The time it took to convert from 1 booster -> 3 booster -> Back to 1 booster config for the launch table, seems like it wasted most of the month. Since SLC-40 launched 4 times in the same period.
If they want to hit 100 launches, seems like they need to skip the Falcon Heavy launches…
Robert – Are you sure about the 7 launches for Space X? I counted 8 in Jan based on the Space X web site.
Ben: I post an update after every launch, and have reviewed the numbers. I haven’t missed anything.
What I suspect is that SpaceX might be counting the Falcon Heavy launch twice, assuming their count is counting the number of boosters that have returned.
Robert:
SpaceX reports:
https://www.spacex.com/launches/
8) JANUARY 31, 2023: STARLINK MISSION
7) JANUARY 26, 2023: STARLINK MISSION
6) JANUARY 19, 2023: STARLINK MISSION
5) JANUARY 18, 2023: GPS III SPACE VEHICLE 06 MISSION
4) JANUARY 15, 2023: USSF-67 MISSION (Flacon Heavy)
3) JANUARY 11, 2023: CRS-26 RETURNS TO EARTH
2) JANUARY 9, 2023: ONEWEB LAUNCH 16 MISSION
1) JANUARY 3, 2023: TRANSPORTER-6 MISSION
I believe that Ben confused the January 11 return of CRS-26 as a launch.
On another note: 14 launches worldwide gives a trend for 168 launches in 2023, 84 as SpaceX and 60 as Chinese. I expect an increase in launch cadence through the course of the year.
All this commercial activity makes this decade an exciting time to watch space activities. Almost as exciting as the 1960s, only the commercial aspect benefits all mankind, not just the governments active in the space race. This is the kind of space activity that we had hoped for half a century ago.
Yup, my mistake. Edward is right, I saw the CRS 20 return listed with their launches.