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Final evening at 10:47 p.m. ET (02:47 UTC), SpaceX launched 21 Starlink satellites to low Earth orbit, breaking their firm document of 61 launches in a yr.
The 62nd launch comes with 4 months nonetheless remaining within the yr and loads of launches nonetheless left on the schedule. SpaceX may method the low 90s by yr’s finish. SpaceX is way forward of every other launch supplier in terms of mass to orbit, principally on account of quite a few Starlink launches.
Liftoff! pic.twitter.com/p7oPfd3eMW
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2023
Elon Musk has acknowledged they wish to launch 100 in a yr, and the one factor that appears to face in the best way of that objective is car and payload availability. SpaceX at present has 17 flight-proven Falcon 9 first-stage rockets in numerous levels of readiness. A number of of these are assigned as Falcon Heavy facet boosters.
Together with the 17 Falcon 9 rockets on the prepared, there are a number of new Falcon 9s and Falcon Heavy heart cores in progress as properly, so car availability shouldn’t pose an issue for the corporate.
As for the 21 Starlink satellites launched final evening, they separated from the 2nd stage an hour and 5 minutes after lift-off, they usually had been inserted right into a 43-degree orbital inclination.
This mission kicked off what may very well be one other busy month for SpaceX, having simply come off a nine-launch marketing campaign in August. September may see as much as eight launches, together with the potential for a Starship check launch. Starship nonetheless has work to do, however there are notices for a mid to late-month launch of the large rocket.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Simply Learn the Directions droneship pic.twitter.com/oLysbrAl9e
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 4, 2023
After launching from Launch Complicated 39A, Booster 1073 landed on the droneship “Simply Learn the Directions,” finishing its tenth mission to area and again. It was additionally the 149th profitable Falcon restoration in a row.
The following launch for SpaceX might be one other Starlink mission from Florida, at present scheduled for NET September eighth.
With SpaceX breaking their launch document and 4 extra months left within the yr, what number of do you assume they may obtain for 2023? The sky isn’t the restrict anymore.
Questions or feedback? Shoot me an e mail at rangle@teslarati.com, or Tweet me @RDAnglePhoto.
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