Spacex Launches Its 6,000Th Starlink Satellite During Friday's Nighttime Mission
Date
3/16/2024 7:09:53 AM
(MENAFN- AzerNews) SpaceX tied its rocket-reuse record on Friday (March 15), while
placing its 6,000th Starlink internet satellite into Earth orbit, Azernews reports, citing to Space.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 23 more of the company's Starlink
satellites launched at 8:21 p.m. EDT (0021 GMT March 16) at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
It was the 19th liftoff for this Falcon 9's first stage,
according to a SpaceX mission description. That tied a mark set
this past December and matched for the first time last month.
The launch also raised the number of Starlink satellites
launched into space to more than 6,000 since SpaceX began deploying
the constellation in 2019.
To plan, the Falcon 9's first stage came back to Earth about 8.5
minutes after liftoff, landing on the droneship "A Shortfall of
Gravitas," which was stationed in the Atlantic Ocean.
The Falcon 9's upper stage continued hauling the 23 Starlink
satellites to low Earth orbit, where they were to be released about
65.5 minutes after liftoff.
Extensive rocket reuse is a key priority for SpaceX and its
founder and CEO, Elon Musk. Indeed, the company's next-generation
vehicle, called Starship, is designed to be fully and rapidly
reusable, a breakthrough that Musk thinks will make Mars settlement
economically feasible.
The launch on Friday follows SpaceX's mostly-successful third
test flight of Starship, which lifted off from the company's
Starbase site in South Texas.
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