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William Harwood / CBS News
SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from Florida on Tuesday night, marking the company’s 100th overall and 23rd place this year. The rocket launched another set of 60 Starlink Internet satellites into orbit using a first stage making a record seventh flight.
The latest batch of Starlinks has pushed the total number launched to date to 955 as SpaceX continues to build a global constellation of Internet relay satellites designed to provide broadband services to subscribers anywhere on the planet. Thousands more satellites are expected.
The nine engines of the well-traveled booster fired at 9:13 PM ET, accelerated to full power, and quickly pushed the thin rocket away from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station’s pad 40 atop a bright flaming exhaust jet.
The take-off took place three days later than expected due to strong winds that delayed the first stage engine test and bad weather in the offshore booster recovery area.
But it was clear he was sailing on Tuesday as the 30-story-tall Falcon 9 raced across the Atlantic Ocean, putting on a spectacular prime-time show for locals and tourists alike.
The rocket’s first stage was making a record seventh trip out of the lower atmosphere, becoming the “fleet leader” of SpaceX’s Falcon 9. Two and a half minutes after launch, the nine Merlin 1D engines shut down and separated from the second stage of the Falcon 9.
As the second stage continued into orbit with the power of its single vacuum engine, the first stage returned to Earth, guiding itself to a perfect landing on a waiting SpaceX drone ship. The touchdown marked the 67th recovery of the company’s successful booster, the 46th at sea and the second landing in two days.
Elon Musk, Founder and chief designer of SpaceX, said the first stages of the Falcon 9 “block 5” should be able to fly up to 10 times without major overhaul and up to 100 times with scheduled inspections and maintenance.
In any case, seconds after the booster landed on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, the Falcon 9’s second stage shut down and six minutes later, the 60 Starlink Internet satellites were released to fly on their own.
SpaceX is currently testing the initial Starlink service in parts of Canada and the northern U.S. The company has regulatory approval to launch thousands of satellites across six orbital planes to provide uninterrupted broadband to commercial receivers anywhere on Earth. not only in the higher latitudes that are currently served.
Astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell, an independent space analyst, said it appears that 54 Starlinks have been deliberately deorbited to date, another six have returned after possible failures, and another 18 do not appear to be maneuvering. Based on that count, 817 Starlink is believed to be operational in Sunday’s launch.
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