SpaceX has successfully launched one of its Falcon 9 rockets into space for a record ninth time on Sunday, making it the first in the company’s fleet to launch and land nine times. The Falcon 9 rocket has a new load of 60 transport Starlink satellites, which is part of the company’s efforts to provide satellite internet.
The successful launch and landing of this first phase booster was remarkably given SpaceX’s objectives when it designed the Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 is designed to do just that fly 10 times with little or no modifications between missions. The company currently has two Falcon 9 booster rockets near the coveted 10 flights, per Space.com, and closely monitor the wear and tear that each rocket undergoes each time it takes off.
The Falcon 9 rocket launched by the company on Sunday also supported the launch of the Crew Dragon Demo-1, the first unmanned test flight of the Dragon spacecraft; the RADARSAT Constellation Mission, or Canada’s new Earth observation satellites; the SXM-7, SirusXMs failed satellite what aimed to support its digital radio service; and five other Starlink missions.
SpaceX sent three bundles of Starlink satellites into space over the past two weeks, Add 180 satellites to the more than 1,000 it already has up there. There are two more planned Starlink launches in March.
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Nevertheless, industry officials recently said that 10 may not be the ‘magic number’ and that Falcon 9 is not rockets could potentially make more flights, SpaceNews reported. Once an amplifier has reached the ten-level milestone, SpaceX will analyze the amplifier and make an assessment of whether it can ‘continue with it’.
As TechCrunch marks outside, rocket reuse is especially important for Starlink missions as SpaceX begins to expand its satellite Internet service. Starlink het 10,000 customers at the moment, although SpaceX recently pre-orders opened for the service. For a refundable deposit of $ 99, customers receive a Starlink set it includes a mountable dish antenna, wifi router and power supply. The whole kit costs $ 499 and morecurrently the service costs $ 99 per month.
It should be noted that it is still unclear whether SpaceX will be able to launch enough satellites to cover the areas it needs to cover and provide reliable internet service. The appears the company tries, however.