On Saturday night, the company launched its second rocket in less than 24 hours and delivered a Turkish communications satellite into space.
The rocket was launched from the Space Launch Complex 40 here at the Cape. The Turksat 5B satellite will be carried into space at the beginning of a 90-minute window.
The first stage of the rocket came back to Earth around nine minutes later. The company uses three massive floating landing pads to recover its rockets. It is the first time in history that all three drones are deployed at the same time.
John Insprucker, the principal integration engineer for the company, said that theFalcon 9 had successfully lifted off from the Space Force station.
The record 11th flight of the Falcon 9 rocket carried 52 Starlink satellites.
The first stage of Falcon 9 has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas.
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The main concern going into the launch tonight is the potential for clouds, with the U.S. Space Force's 45th Space Delta predicting 80% chance of favorable conditions. Mother nature cooperated and it was a clear night in Florida with a full moon.
The sky was lit up by the previously flown Falcon 9. The glow of the rocket's nine first-stage engines turned night into day as the rocket climbed into the clouds over the Space Coast. After the rocket disappeared, the engines rumbled for a long time.
The 30th launch of the year for the company was tonight's mission. One of the newest members of the Falcon 9 rockets is known as B1067.
In June of this year, B1067 was used to carry the uncrewed CRS-22 cargo resupply mission to the International Space Station, followed by the Crew 3 mission that launched four astronauts to the International Space Station in November. The 9,900-pound satellite is being lofted into space by the booster for Turkey.
The Turksat 5B communications satellite was launched on December 18, 2021. The credit is given to the company, SpaceX.
The Turksat 5B satellite was put into space by the Falcon 9 with more than 1.7 million pounds of thrust from its nine first-stage Merlin 1D engines.
The Turksat 5A was launched in January by SpaceX. Turkey is trying to expand its presence in space. Activists are protesting outside of the headquarters of the company because of Turkey's role in the conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan. The launch was not stopped by a protest in October 2020.
The first stage of the rocket landed on a ship about nine minutes after the launch, marking the third successful launch and landing for this booster. Since the company recovered its first rocket in 2015, 99 successful touchdown for a returning booster has been recorded. 76 have been at the sea.
The constellation of Turkey.
The Turksat 5B was separated from the upper stage of the Falcon 9 about 32 minutes after liftoff. The satellite will beam down broadband coverage in both the Ku- and Ka-bands.
Turksat 5B is slightly heavier than Turksat 5A, which is currently in its parking spot, because it has a set of onboard plasma thrusters. These thrusters rely on electrical energy from the solar panels to work.
It takes a bit longer to reach its parking spot because the traditional thrusters rely on monopropellants but produce less thrust. The Turksat 5B satellite will provide more than 50 gigabits per second of capacity once it is in its parking spot.
Saturday night's launch is the second in less than 16 hours. The first stage of the company's oldest booster, known as B1051, set a new flight record before sunrise on the West Coast, and it launched and landed for the 11th time.
The company has flown two different boosters a total of 10 times. B1051 and B1049 are both stationed on the West Coast, where they are helping launch the Starlink internet constellation.
Starlink is a company that aims to connect people around the globe who have little-to-no internet access.
B1051 deposited a stack of 52 Starlink satellites into space. After that, company engineers focused on Florida and the Turksat 5B. The mission blasted off on time, setting a new company record.
The company has one more launch planned. A different rocket will be used to send a cargo Dragon into space. The total number of launches this year is up to 31, with the final mission for the year.
The previous record for most launches in a single year was set in 2020 with 26. The company was planning to launch 40 rockets.
Reusability efforts.
The design of the Falcon 9 makes it possible to launch so many rockets. The current iteration of the flying is here. The Block 5 has 1.7 million pounds of first-stage thrust and is capable of rapid reuse.
When the upgraded Falcon 9 was unveiled, company officials speculated that each first-stage booster would fly as many as 10 times with minor renovations in between, and possibly as many as 100 times before retirement. The rockets are capable of flying well beyond the 10 flight threshold.
Saturday's flight is the 133rd overall flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, with the vast majority of those being re-flown rockets. Only one of the 30 missions so far this year was on a brand new rocket.
The souped-up version of the Falcon 9 has a fleet of recovery vessels that it uses to catch its returning boosters. A trio of massive drones, two stationed in Florida and one in California, are tasked with serving as a massive floating landing pad.
The company is on the verge of its 100th successful recovery.
The company uses specialized ships to get to the fairings after launch.
According to company representatives, those two pieces of hardware account for 10% of the overall price tag. Recovering and reflying them along with the first stage boosters can reduce launch costs.
The success of the recovery efforts is usually announced after the launch, but each of the fairings used in Saturday's missions has flown before. They will do it again if they have any luck.
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