SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 for the 21st time on Friday with a launch from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, breaking their record set just 35 days earlier.
It took just 35 days for Booster 1062 to take to the skies again to help send 23 V2 mini Starlink satellites into orbit, showcasing SpaceX’s ability to quickly renew their fleet’s flight controllers.
Rise! pic.twitter.com/caAsrsKUyH
SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 18, 2024
The 23 Starlink satellites – part of Group 6-59 – were launched southeast and at an orbital inclination of 43 degrees, the same as previous Group 6 missions. The company had recently experienced a slight lull in launches from Florida after the drone ship Just Read the Instructions was undergoing maintenance. The drone ship is now back in action and already heading to the next landing site for a Starlink launch this week.
Booster 1062 broke the launch record in style, with a launch just after sunset local time. As B1062 ascended, it flew back into the sunlight just before the stage split, and as the second stage ignited, the exhaust plume ignited, creating a “jellyfish effect”, giving a beautiful display to anyone who happened to out to catch the departure. .
The “jellyfish effect” created by the second stage of the Falcon 9. (Credit SpaceX)
The lighting was right where you could track not only the first stage, but also both nose cone nodes, all three using cold gas thrusters to help orient them for the return trip through the atmosphere to be recovered.
Falcon 9 completes 21st launch and first landing! pic.twitter.com/m77JbAdNKJ
SpaceX (@SpaceX) May 18, 2024
B1062 made its 21st landing in the drone flight “A Shortfall of Gravitas” just eight and a half minutes after takeoff. The footage of the launch from recovery was just as epic as can be seen in this post from Elon Musk below.
The Falcon goes into orbit as seen from the ocean pic.twitter.com/Dclhju24ya
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 18, 2024
SpaceX has a busy week if weather or technical issues don’t get in the way. First is a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office currently scheduled for no earlier than 1:00 a.m. PT on May 22 from California, followed by back-to-back Starlink launches from Florida on May 22 (NET 10:33 pm ET) and May 23 (NET 6:45 pm ET).
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