SpaceX yesterday launched another 23 Starlink satellites
SpaceX yesterday successfully launched 23 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
While the video link above says 23, a UPI report said the launch placed 22 satellites in orbit. I have no idea which is right, as the number of Starlinks on these launches range from 20 to 23.
The first stage completed its 19th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
105 SpaceX
48 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 122 to 71, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 105 to 88.
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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.
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SpaceX yesterday successfully launched 23 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
While the video link above says 23, a UPI report said the launch placed 22 satellites in orbit. I have no idea which is right, as the number of Starlinks on these launches range from 20 to 23.
The first stage completed its 19th flight, landing on a drone ship in the Atlantic.
The leaders in the 2024 launch race:
105 SpaceX
48 China
11 Russia
11 Rocket Lab
American private enterprise now leads the rest of the world combined in successful launches 122 to 71, while SpaceX by itself now leads the entire world, including American companies, 105 to 88.
Readers!
Please consider supporting my work here at Behind the Black. Your support allows 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. 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. Only now does it appear that Washington might finally 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.
You can support me either by giving a one-time contribution or a regular subscription. There are four 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 or subscription:
4. Donate by check, payable to Robert Zimmerman and mailed to
Behind The Black
c/o Robert Zimmerman
P.O.Box 1262
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.
”SpaceX yesterday successfully launched 23 more Starlink satellites, its Falcon 9 lifting off from Cape Canaveral in Florida.”
This was just a few hours ago today as I write this, and the payload was a batch of 22 Starlink v2 minis launched to an inclination of 53 degrees.
More significantly, I think, is that it is the 100th successful Falcon 9 orbital launch of the calendar year. That’s quite a milestone.
I watched the landing on SpaceX.com, and I think it was the most off-center (but successful) landing I have seen. The booster landing legs appeared to straddle the large circle around the logo on the deck of the barge! This is ironic given the recent landing accuracy tour de force demonstrated by the Flight 5 Superheavy.
Interestingly, SpaceX in 2024 has now achieved 22 return to launch site (RTLS) landings, overtaking 2023, which had 21 for the whole year. (Number 22 was on OneWeb 20 on Oct. 20.)
This is a noteworthy aspect of how SpaceX has managed to increase its launch cadence this year. It’s not hard to see why Elon and his engineers are so keen to achieve recovery at the launch pad for Starship.
The Superheavy booster as designed is probably unable to be transported other than vertically, and on a special transport cradle that mimics the launch platform. That effectively means only a few kilometers, and in a controlled environment where other traffic can be managed.
Whether it would be cost effective to build a shipborne launch / catch tower is debatable, since the cost would be enormous and the unavoidable access to the maintenance site would be a more complex process and take longer.
If landing legs were incorporated, this movement limitation would probably still exist, so it makes sense to “land” the booster in a manner that allows it to be immediately attached to the launch pad or to the transport cradle. In other words words, catch it.
Not having landing gear of course significantly improves the thrust / weight ratio and thus increases the payload.