SpaceX launched another batch of Starlink satellites on Sunday morning aboard a Falcon 9 rocket, approaching a major milestone in rocket reuse.
See also: SpaceX launched 60 more Starlink satellites – just a week after the previous batch
The Falcon 9 first-stage booster that put this payload into orbit, Booster no. 1051, made its ninth flight and successfully landed on the company's Of Course I Still Love You droneship.
It is the first Falcon 9 rocket to have flown nine missions.
This is very interesting news, as it gives hope that a tenth flight could take place in the near future, perhaps within the next two months.
Achieving ten flights would also mean achieving one of SpaceX's main goals for the Falcon 9 rocket. The company had built the spacecraft in such a way that it could be used multiple times.
The company launched the “Block 5” version of the Falcon 9 rocket in May 2018, and since then this vehicle has carried out 55 successful missions.
Most importantly, the changes that SpaceX engineers incorporated into this new rocket to ensure its durability for reuse have proven to be largely effective.
“For those who know about rockets, this is very difficult,” SpaceX founder Elon Muskduring a conference call in 2018.
“We started in 2002. It took sixteen years of tremendous effort, many iterations, and thousands of small but significant developmental changes to get where we need to be“.
At the time, Musk had set two key goals for the Falcon 9 first-stage booster. One was to fly each vehicle 10 times before major maintenance was necessary.
As Sunday's ninth successful launch showed, SpaceX is doing very well with this goal.
The company has not disclosed the maintenance procedures for Falcon 9 first-stages between launches or the frequency of changing a Merlin, but it appears that the cores have proven reliable and robust.
Many Falcon 9 first stage boosters have now flown more than five times.
The Falcon 9 rocket's rapid reuse capability has allowed SpaceX to achieve a high launch rate in recent months, with fewer than 10 active boosters.
In recent months, SpaceX has been launching an average of one rocket every nine days.
See also: SpaceX rocket managed to land but then exploded
SpaceX is constantly launching missions, having committed to immediately placing thousands of Starlink satellites into orbit.
See also: Starlink Satellite Internet: Musk promises double speeds by 2021
Astronomers have expressed concerns about the effect of these satellites on the night sky, and experts are worried about potential collisions.
However, there is no doubt that the technique required to place satellites into orbit so quickly is impressive.
Source: Ars Technica
