Achi news desk-
Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain
SpaceX sent the 30th launch from the Space Coast for the year on the night of April 23, a mission that also included the company’s 300th successful booster recovery.
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying SpaceX’s 23 Starlink internet satellites blasted off at 6:17 pm eastern time from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40.
The first stage booster marked the 300th time a Falcon 9 or Falcon Heavy booster has made a successful recovery landing, and the 270th time SpaceX has re-flighted a booster.
This particular boost made its ninth trip into space, a run that includes one human spaceflight, Crew-6. He made his latest landing recovery on the Just Read the Instructions droneship in the Atlantic Ocean.
The company’s first successful booster recovery came in December 2015, and it has not failed to land a booster since February 2021.
The current flight record holder flew 11 days ago making his 20th trip off the launch pad.
SpaceX has been responsible for all but two of the launches this year either from Kennedy Space Center or Cape Canaveral with United Launch Alliance having launched the other two.
SpaceX could have more launches before the end of the month, putting the Space Coast on pace to reach more than 90 by the end of the year, but SpaceX’s launch rate is expected to rise for the rest of the year as well. with some operating times in the Cape’s SLC-40 coming in under three days.
That could increase the frequency so that the Space Coast could be more than 100 launches before the end of the year, with the majority coming from SpaceX. It held 72 launches in 2023.
However, more launches from ULA are also available, including the May 6 launch atop an Atlas V rocket of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner with a pair of NASA astronauts to the International Space Station.
ULA is also gearing up for the second ever launch of its new Vulcan Centaur rocket, which recently received its second Blue Origin BE-4 engine and is just waiting on the payload, Sierra Space’s Dream Chaser spacecraft, to make its way to the Space Coast.
Blue Origin also has its own rocket it wants to launch this year, with New Glenn making its debut as early as September, according to the SLD 45 range manifest.
2024 Orlando Sentinel. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Cite:
SpaceX launch marks 300th successful booster landing (2024, April 24)
Retrieved 24 April 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-04-spacex-300th-successful-booster.html
This document is copyrighted. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without written permission. The content is provided for information only.
Adblock Test (Why?)
Source link
The post SpaceX launch marks 300th successful booster landing – Phys.org appeared first on Canadian News Media.
