SpaceX successfully launches another 49 Starlink satellites
Capitalism in space: SpaceX successfully completed its third launch in four days today, launching 49 Starlink satellites into orbit on its Falcon 9 rocket.
At the time of writing, the satellites themselves have not yet deployed. The first stage, flying its sixth mission, landed successfully. The two fairing halves were flying their sixth and fourth flights.
The 2022 launch race:
6 SpaceX
2 China
1 Virgin Orbit
1 ULA
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit.
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 successfully completed its third launch in four days today, launching 49 Starlink satellites into orbit on its Falcon 9 rocket.
At the time of writing, the satellites themselves have not yet deployed. The first stage, flying its sixth mission, landed successfully. The two fairing halves were flying their sixth and fourth flights.
The 2022 launch race:
6 SpaceX
2 China
1 Virgin Orbit
1 ULA
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. from any other book seller, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. 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
This also marks 112 consecutive successful flights, most of which were flown on re-used boosters. That’s the highest number of consecutive successes of any rocket, past or present.
A somewhat more useless factoid: Falcon 9 has flown as many successful flights as the Space Shuttle, in one-third the time.
BTW, Bob, Eric Berger has a beautiful entry candidate for your “Capitalism in Space” update files today. Falcon 9 has not only flown more times than the Shuttle in a third of the time (all while iterating to develop first stage landing and reuse!), but it now has more consecutive successful launches than any other launch vehicle in history (112). And at such a low cost!
Amazing what entrepreneurship can accomplish, isn’t it?
https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/02/spacexs-falcon-9-rocket-has-set-a-record-for-most-consecutive-successes/
P.S. I see Diane has the same reading bookmarks as I do!
Sadly it will will not match R-7 that has launched 2000 times or so. You’d think the coking free SSME’s could have been turned around faster.
Starship will probably be the one to beat the R-7 record. If they really want a million people on Mars by the end of the century, they will need at least ten thousand starship launches, probably a lot more.
From the Ars Technica article:
Also not included in this launch tally is the partial failure of a Falcon 9 rocket on another, though earlier, ISS supply mission, in which the supply mission was completed, but due to an engine failure, the secondary payload was not released into orbit, as it may have endangered the ISS.
It is hard to find a comparable tally, but three payloads were lost atop three different Falcon 9 rockets.
The conclusion of the article is telling:
It was a mere seven years ago that people were doubting the economics and safety of reusing these boosters.
One Hundred and Five….
Successful Landing recoveries……
The Fifties! Has now arrived…
In 2022 !!!
What happened here?
“Fireballs over Puerto Rico likely from doomed Starlink batch”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUlAz_Oxv4Q
The sun defended the astronomers against Musk’s insolence!
“How the sun JUST destroyed 40 SpaceX Starlink satellites”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUqOZLIiKpQ
questioner–
interesting stuff.
a quick backgrounder….
“How Do Starlink Satellites Navigate To Their Final Operational Orbits?”
Scott Manley (august 2021)
https://youtu.be/VIQr1UyhwWk
12:34
Questioner–
“SpaceX Loses 40 Satellites To Solar Storm”
Scott Manley (Feb 9, 2022)
https://youtu.be/9kIcEFyEPgA
11:02