CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX launched its second rocket in lower than 24 hours on Saturday night time (Dec. 18), delivering a Turkish communications satellite into orbit earlier than capping off the profitable mission with a touchdown at sea.
A 230-foot-tall (70 meters) Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Space Launch Complex 40 right here at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station at 10:58 p.m. EST (0358 GMT on Dec. 19), at first of a deliberate 90-minute window, carrying the Turksat 5B satellite into space.
Approximately 9 minutes later, the rocket’s first stage returned to Earth, touching down on the deck of SpaceX‘s latest drone ship, “A Shortfall of Gravitas.” The ship is certainly one of three large floating touchdown pads that the California-based aerospace firm makes use of to get better its rockets. The different two — named “Of Course I Still Love You” and “Just Read the Instructions” — are finishing up missions of their very own, marking the primary time ever that every one three drone ships are deployed on the similar time.
“Falcon 9 has successfully lifted off from SLC-40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force station carrying a satellite to geosynchronous transfer orbit,” SpaceX’s principal integration engineer John Insprucker mentioned throughout a stay webcast of the launch.
Related: SpaceX launches Falcon 9 rocket on record 11th flight carrying 52 Starlink satellites
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the A Shortfall of Gravitas droneship pic.twitter.com/CDTVuHOBtyDecember 19, 2021
Going into the launch tonight, forecasters on the U.S. Space Force’s forty fifth Space Delta, which oversees launch climate operations, predicted a 80% likelihood of favorable circumstances for launch, with the primary concern being the potential for cumulus clouds. Mother nature cooperated and it was a crystal clear night time right here in Florida, with a brilliant full moon shining overhead.
The night time sky lit up because the beforehand flown Falcon 9 leapt off the launch pad. The glow of the rocket’s 9 first-stage engines turned night time into day because the rocket climbed into the clouds hanging over the Space Coast. The rumble of the engines might be heard lengthy after the rocket disappeared from sight.
Tonight’s mission marked the thirtieth launch of the 12 months for SpaceX, and the third flight for this specific booster. Known as B1067, this primary stage is likely one of the latest members of SpaceX’s fleet of Falcon 9 rockets.
Making its debut in June of this 12 months, B1067 has beforehand carried two totally different Dragon spacecraft into orbit — the uncrewed CRS-22 cargo resupply mission in June, adopted by the Crew-3 mission that launched 4 astronauts to the International Space Station in November. For its third act, the booster is lofting a 9,900-pound (4,490 kilograms) satellite into space for Turkey.
Powered by greater than 1.7 million kilos of thrust from its 9 first-stage Merlin 1D engines, the Falcon 9 deposited the Turksat 5B satellite into orbit the place it can function for roughly 15 years, offering broadband protection to Turkey, the Middle East, Europe and parts of Africa.
SpaceX kicked off 2021 with the launch of the spacecraft’s counterpart, Turksat 5A, in January. The satellite duo is a part of Turkey’s efforts to increase its presence in space. The launches are thought of controversial, with activists protesting outside SpaceX’s headquarters in Hawthorne, California, citing Turkey’s position in a battle between Armenia and Azerbaijan as trigger to boycott the mission. A protest was held in Oct. 2020, nevertheless it was unsuccessful at stopping the launch.
About 9 minutes after the Falcon 9 leaped off the pad, the rocket’s first stage landed on the drone ship, marking the third profitable launch and touchdown for this specific booster. The touchdown additionally marked the 99th profitable landing for a returning SpaceX booster, because the firm recovered its first rocket in 2015. Of these recoveries, 76 have been at sea.
Turkish constellation
Built by Airbus, the Turksat 5B spacecraft separated from the Falcon 9’s higher stage roughly 32 minutes after liftoff. From its orbital perch, greater than 22,000 miles (36,00 kilometers) above Earth, the satellite will beam down broadband protection, in each the Ku- and Ka-bands.
Turksat 5B is barely heavier than its predecessor (Turksat 5A), which is at the moment in its orbital parking spot, which it reached due to a set of onboard plasma thrusters that each spacecraft have. These thrusters do not use conventional gas, however as a substitute, depend on electrical vitality from the spacecraft’s solar panels.
The thrusters are extra energy-efficient than the normal thrusters that depend on monopropellants (like hydrazine) however produce much less thrust, so it takes a bit longer to succeed in its orbital parking spot. Once in its parking spot, the Turksat 5B satellite will present greater than 50 gigabits per second of capability, in accordance with Airbus.
Saturday night time’s launch marks the second launch for SpaceX in lower than 16 hours. Before dawn on the West Coast, one of many firm’s oldest boosters, a primary stage generally known as B1051, set a brand new flight file for a single booster and it launched and landed for the eleventh time.
To date, SpaceX has flown two totally different boosters a total of 10 instances, and two further boosters a total of 9 instances. It’s oldest and most prolific boosters — B1051 and B1049 — are each stationed on the West Coast the place they’re serving to SpaceX launch its burgeoning Starlink web constellation.
Comprised of greater than 1,900 flat-paneled broadband satellites, Starlink goals to attach individuals across the globe who at the moment have little-to-no web entry.
Following a profitable liftoff, B1051 deposited a stack of 52 Starlink satellites into space. After that, firm engineers turned their sights to Florida and the Turksat 5B payload. The mission blasted off proper on time, marking a brand new firm file of shortest time in between launches.
SpaceX isn’t slowing down but, as the corporate has yet another Falcon 9 launch deliberate. Early Tuesday morning (Dec. 21), a distinct Falcon 9 rocket will ferry a cargo Dragon spacecraft into space for NASA. That mission will shut out the 12 months for SpaceX, bringing the total variety of launches this 12 months as much as 31.
The firm’s earlier file for many launches in a single 12 months was set in 2020, with 26 rockets launched. This 12 months the corporate had plans of launching an estimated 40 rockets.
Reusability efforts
The capacity to launch so many rockets is as a result of design of the Falcon 9. The present iteration flying as we speak debuted in 2018. Known as the Block 5, it options 1.7 million kilos of first-stage thrust in addition to another upgrades that make it able to fast reuse.
When the upgraded Falcon 9 debuted, firm officers speculated that every first-stage booster would fly as many as 10 instances with minor refurbishments in between, and doubtlessly as many as 100 instances earlier than retirement. Experience has proven that the rockets are able to flying properly past that 10 flight threshold.
Saturday’s flight is the 133rd general flight of a Falcon 9 rocket, with the overwhelming majority of these being re-flown rockets. In reality, solely certainly one of SpaceX’s 30 missions to this point in 2021 was on a model new rocket.
In addition to the souped-up model of the Falcon 9, SpaceX has a fleet of restoration vessels it makes use of to catch its returning boosters. A trio of large drone ships, two stationed in Florida and one in California, are tasked with serving as an enormous, floating touchdown pad.
With every launch, the corporate is inching in direction of a significant milestone: its one centesimal profitable restoration.
The firm is continuous its efforts to get better the payload fairings, with the assistance of specialised ships it deploys to snag the fairings after launch.
Those two items of {hardware} account for roughly 10% of the rocket’s general price ticket, in accordance with firm representatives. By recovering and reflying them, together with the primary stage boosters, SpaceX can scale back launch prices.
The success of fairing restoration efforts is usually introduced following the launch, however every of the fairings utilized in Saturday’s missions has flown earlier than. With any luck, they are going to once more.
Follow Amy Thompson on Twitter @astrogingersnap. Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.
