Elon Musk’s SpaceX launched the Falcon 9 on its 13th flight on Friday, setting a new record for the most times one of its rockets dared to fly into space and return safely to Earth.
The two-stage amplifier, known as the B1060, ignited its nine Merlin engines at 12:09 a.m. while on site 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
The B1060 previously launched the US Space Force’s GPS III-3 satellite, Turksat-5A, the Transporter-2 rideshare mission, and completed nine Starlink missions.
Not only did today’s mission mark a new milestone for SpaceX, but it also delivered 53 new Starlink satellites into low Earth orbit – bringing the total number of devices in the constellation to more than 2,200.
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Elon Musk’s SpaceX launches Falcon 9 for its 13th flight on Friday, setting a new record for the most times one of its rockets has dared to fly into space and return safely to Earth
The Falcon 9 rocket orbits between 144 miles and 209 miles above the earth’s surface, where 53 Starlinks were released – the satellites were deployed about 15 minutes after takeoff, according to SpaceFlightNow.
The B1060’s last mission was in April, when it also took a batch of 53 Starlinks into orbit, bringing the total number of satellites launched to more than 2,300.
The completed Starlink constellation is expected to be in the tens of thousands, which will eventually provide the Internet to the entire globe.
The ability to reuse the first stage of its rockets helps SpaceX keep the cost of launch low and makes them competitive with older companies.
B1060 previously launched the US Space Forces GPS III-3 satellite, Turksat-5A, the Transporter-2 rideshare mission and completed nine Starlink missions
The two-stage amplifier, known as the B1060, ignited its nine Merlin engines at 12:09 a.m. while on site 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida
This is also part of Musk’s plan to colonize Mars – once SpaceX has mastered the reuse of a rocket, it could begin sending multiple rockets to Mars and back to Earth.
However, Musk plans to use Starship’s massive missiles to transport people to and from the Red Planet.
The CEO shared an animation earlier this week showing the Starship rocket spitting Starlink satellites into space, just like the cakes in the Pez dispenser.
“This is the only thing Starlink Two satellites can carry,” he said in a recent episode of Everyday Astronaut.
“We have already made the first one and we have the first Starlink Two in place and it is seven meters (23 feet) long.
‘[The] falcon [9] has neither the volume nor the ability to bring mass into orbit needed for Starlink Two.
“So even if we cut Starlink Two, the total mass of the Falcon isn’t nearly enough to make Starlink Two.”
While SpaceX awaits the first orbital launch of its Starship, the company is moving at full speed forward with the Falcon 9 rocket.
Today he will not only set a new record, but will also start as a weekend for the startup trophy.
The company is preparing three missions in Florida and California, which will be the 24th, 25th and 26th launches this year.
As SpaceX celebrates later, some of its employees were fired today over a letter published on the company’s internal communications system on Wednesday criticizing Musk for his “awkward” and “distracting” tweets.
According to Reuters, at least five employees have been fired.
The workers, who remain anonymous, asked the company’s directors to “quickly and explicitly separate themselves” from Elon’s “personal brand” – and in just one month.
The New York Times on Friday revealed that some of these employees were fired after that.
The ability to reuse the first stage of its rockets helps SpaceX keep launch costs lower and makes them competitive with older companies
The paper said an email from Gwyn Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said employees involved in distributing the letter had been fired for making other employees feel “uncomfortable, scared and harassed and / or or angry because the letter forced them to sign something that did not reflect their views. “
In an inside statement, Shotwell said: “The letters, requests and the general process made employees feel uncomfortable, scared and harassed and / or angry because the letter forced them to sign something that did not reflect their views.
“We have too much critical work to do and there is no need for this kind of excessive activism.”
Officials wrote that Musk’s tweets, especially in recent months, had “become a source of distraction and embarrassment” for the company and wanted the company to take action against its own CEO, claiming that his tweets would ultimately hurt the reputation of SpaceX.
“Elon’s behavior in the public sphere is a frequent source of distraction and embarrassment for us, especially in recent weeks,” said the letter, reviewed and first reported by The Verge.
“As our CEO and top speaker, Elon is seen as the face of SpaceX – every tweet Elon sends is a de facto public statement by the company.”
ELAN MUSK’S SPACEX SETS UP TO INTRODUCE BROADBAND INTERNET TO THE WORLD WITH ITS STARLINK CONSTELLATION STELL
Elon Musk’s SpaceX has launched more than 2,000 of its Starlink space satellites and hopes to have 12,000 in the sky by 2026.
They form a constellation designed to provide low-cost low-bandwidth Internet service.
Although satellite internet has been around for some time, it suffers from high latency and unreliable connections.
Starlink is different. SpaceX said it aims to provide high-speed, cable-like Internet access around the world.
Musk said earlier that the venture could give three billion people who do not currently have access to the Internet a cheap way to access the Internet.
This could also help fund a future city on Mars.
Helping humanity reach the red planet is one of Musk’s long-term goals, and it inspired him to launch SpaceX.
Musk rival Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, also plans to launch a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to provide broadband access to remote areas as part of his Kuiper project.
However, astronomers have expressed concerns about light pollution and other disturbances caused by these satellite constellations.
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