SpaceX Pulls off 3 Orbital Launches in 34 Hours, Smashing Its Record
- by Gizmodo
- Jun 17, 2024
- 0 Comments
- 0 Likes Flag 0 Of 5
. For the first of its recent three launches, a Falcon 9 carried the Surface Water and Ocean Topography (SWOT) mission
to orbit. The rocket took off from Space Launch Complex-4E at Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on December 16 at 6:46 a.m. ET. SWOT deployed as planned, beginning its three-year mission as the first satellite to conduct a global survey of Earth’s surface water to measure how it changes over time.
A little over 11 hours later, another Falcon 9 rocket took flight, departing Florida at 5:48 p.m ET. Friday’s second launch carried two communications satellites, the Boeing-built O3b mPower 1 and 2, to orbit for Luxembourg satellite operator SES.
The third launch was a little closer to home for SpaceX, with the reusable rocket delivering more of the private company’s Starlink satellites to orbit. On December 17, a Falcon 9 launched at 4:32 p.m. ET with 54 satellites tucked into its payload fairing. So far, SpaceX has launched over 3,600 of its internet satellites to orbit, of which 3,284 are currently operational, according to stats collected by astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell. The use of its workhorse Falcon 9 has put the company way ahead of its competition, such as OneWeb
, when it comes to building a megaconstellation of internet satellites in low Earth orbit.
SpaceX has two more launches scheduled this year. Multiple reports suggest that the company is planning on launching Falcon 9 on December 28
to deliver more Starlink satellites to orbit, according to Teslarati
Please first to comment
Related Post
Stay Connected
Tweets by elonmuskTo get the latest tweets please make sure you are logged in on X on this browser.
Sponsored
Popular Post
Tesla: Buy This Dip, Energy Growth And Margin Recovery Are Vastly Underappreciated
28 ViewsJul 29 ,2024