SpaceX has begun counting right down to the New Yr, with the launch of the primary of three rockets deliberate to shut out 2024.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying 22 of the corporate’s Starlink satellites lifted off from Vandenberg House Power Base in California on Saturday (Dec. 28). The mission launched at 8:48 p.m. EST (5:48 p.m. PST native time or 0148 GMT on Dec. 29) from House Launch Advanced 4 East (SLC-4E).
The satellites had been on observe to be deployed into low Earth orbit about 65 minutes later, as to plan. It was SpaceX’s 132nd Falcon launch this yr, with two nonetheless scheduled over the following two days — a industrial communications satellites mission and one other batch of Starlink satellites.
“We’re now focusing on 134 launches — two shy of our final purpose — to complete 2024 robust,” wrote Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX’s vice chairman of launch, on the social media network X. “Right here’s to an superior final couple of days in 2024 and an excellent higher 2025!”
Saturday’s Falcon 9’s first stage got here again to Earth safely, touching down on the droneship “Of Course I Nonetheless Love You” within the Pacific Ocean about eight minutes after liftoff.
It was the sixteenth touchdown for this specific booster, based on a company mission description. Twelve of its 16 flights to this point have been Starlink missions.
It was SpaceX’s 88th launch this yr of Starlink broadband web satellites, with only one failing on account of an higher stage liquid oxygen leak.
“Finally, there is just one quantity that really issues. ZERO failures. Our precedence is – and can stay – security and reliability above all else,” wrote Dontchev.
The Starlink megaconstellation — the largest ever assembled — at the moment consists of almost 6,700 energetic spacecraft, according to satellite tv for pc tracker and astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell.
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