SpaceX has just completed a remarkable triple space flight header.
One of two stages Falcon 9 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral Florida Space Force Station Sunday (June 19) at 00:27 EDT (0427 GMT), carrying a communications satellite for Louisiana-based company Globalstar orbits.
Ten minutes after takeoff, the first stage of the rocket returned to Earth for a vertical landing SpaceX droneship Just Read The Instructions, which was parked in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Florida. If all goes according to plan, the satellite will be launched into orbit approximately 1 hour and 50 minutes after launch.
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The first stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket goes down for a landing at sea on June 19, 2022, after launching a communications satellite for the company Globalstar. It was the ninth landing of this propeller. (Image credit: SpaceX)
It was him third mission for SpaceX in just over 36 hours. The company launched 53 of its Internet Starlink satellites from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Friday (June 17th) and launched a radar satellite for the military on Saturday (June 18th). German from the Vandenberg space force base in California.
Friday’s mission set a new rocket reuse record for SpaceX; the Falcon 9 that piloted it had a first stage that already had 12 launchings. (Sunday’s release was the ninth for this first concrete stage of Falcon 9, according to a description of the SpaceX mission (Opens in a new tab).
SpaceX has really increased its launch rate this year, even before the trifecta. The takeoff on Sunday morning was the 26th of the 2022 company, and the year is not even half over yet.
Mike Wall is the author of “Over there (opens in new tab) “(Grand Central Publishing, 2018; illustrated by Karl Tate), a book about the search for alien life. Follow him on Twitter @michaeldwall (opens in a new tab). follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom (opens in a new tab) or activated Facebook (opens in a new tab).