SpaceX successfully launches commercial satellite
Capitalism in space: Using a first stage for the third time, SpaceX today successfully launched a commercial communications satellite while recovering that first stage.
Fun fact: This first stage recovery today was the 47th time that SpaceX has successfully completed a vertical landing.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
30 China
20 Russia
13 SpaceX
7 Europe (Arianespace)
China now leads the U.S. in the national rankings 30 to 26.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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Capitalism in space: Using a first stage for the third time, SpaceX today successfully launched a commercial communications satellite while recovering that first stage.
Fun fact: This first stage recovery today was the 47th time that SpaceX has successfully completed a vertical landing.
The leaders in the 2019 launch race:
30 China
20 Russia
13 SpaceX
7 Europe (Arianespace)
China now leads the U.S. in the national rankings 30 to 26.
The support of my readers through the years has given 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. Four years ago, just before the 2020 election I wrote that Joe Biden's mental health was suspect. Only in this year has the propaganda mainstream media decided to recognize that basic fact.
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. Even today NASA and Congress refuse to 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.
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are five 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:
5. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
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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. And if you buy the books through the ebookit links, I get a larger cut and I get it sooner.
China has 30 launches, with how many recovered stages?
They got them all back.
Just not in any recognizable condition.
The SpaceX announcer made a couple of slips. He said “failings” then caught himself and said “fairings”. Then, I believe he said “encrapsulate”…
Well, at least we’re a lock now for second place, at any rate.
In 2020, Starship plans quite a lot of launches for Starlink. It will be interesting to see how many they can squeeze into existing launch range capabilities at the Cape and Vandenburg – and whether it will end up being enough to re-take first place from the Chinese.
What’s the cost of a Chinese launch vs SpaceX?
Kyle, China can subsidize launches, so the “cost” to customers is whatever China wants it to be. I don’t know if China also demands “technology transfer” for such launches, meaning that you have to give them your trade secrets. That would make launches very expensive.
Unrelated question, what percentage of Falcon 9 launches to date have been on “flight-proven hardware”?
I have to say I am supprised ( and slightly disappointed, but that’s only because of the spectacle of launch and landing!) By the lack of falcon heavy launches…. Does anyone know if they have published a manifesto list?
Given the lack of heavy lift availability, and the price, I would have thought they would have much more business..
Check out: https://www.spacexstats.xyz/ that lists it all.
28 reflights out of 77. Considering they did not first recover a booster until they were about 24 someodd flights in, that is more like 28 out of 51. And some of those 28 were first flights. So getting closer and closer!
You can go figure it all out from:
https://www.reddit.com/r/spacex/wiki/cores
Which lists all the cores and all the missions.
Be an interesting stat if you can figure it out.
Lee, it’s not too surprising that we haven’t seen many heavy launches. Those are the most expensive satellites, and there’s a long lead time in their development. And to some extent, the satellites are designed to fly on particular rockets, based on lifting capability, physical size constraints of the payload bay, launcher availability, lead time, etc. I’ve read that Delta IV Heavy requires a three year lead time, once the commitment is made. Given the years of promises for Falcon Heavy, most people waited until it flew before even considering it. There will be more, but at this point, the idea of low-cost heavy lift hasn’t really made it through the planning cycle for most projects.
Also, I don’t think that SpaceX really talks much about long term launch manifests, unless there has been some public announcement about the satellites themselves.
Geoffc, thanks for the links!
Just wondering if there was any word from SpaceX about payload shroud recovery? It was mentioned in the lead-up to launch. I imagine the silence on the subject indicates they could not pull it off.
Patrick G McCourt,
A tweet confirms your suspicion, the two ships both missed the catch:
https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1206741550694158338
“Ms. Tree and Ms. Chief narrowly missed catching the fairing halves—team is working to recover them for potential use on a future flight“