Tag: Reusability

SpaceX Pushes Reusability Record With 33rd Falcon 9 Flight

The Starlink 6-104 mission added another 28 Starlink V2 Mini Optimized satellites into low Earth orbit. As Spaceflight Now reports, “Liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 10:47 p.m. EST (0347 UTC). The Falcon 9 rocket flew on a south-easterly trajectory upon leaving the pad.”
Full Story (Spaceflight Now)

Video

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches 28 Starlink satellites from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. (Launch occurs at the 0:10 second mark)
VideoFromSpace; YouTube

More Space Companies Betting their Future on Reusability

Space News reports, “On the fifth integrated test flight of Starship, launched Oct. 13 from the company’s Boca Chica, Texas, site, the Super Heavy booster aimed to fly back to the launch tower, where massive mechanical arms — dubbed ‘chopsticks’ — would grapple it. So many things could go wrong that most expected failure, much like SpaceX’s early attempts to land Falcon 9 boosters a decade ago. Inside the company, though, there was confidence.”
Full Story (Space News)