WASHINGTON – SpaceX launched another set of Falcon 9 satellites on February 15, but during the mission, the first phase of the rocket is a rare failed landing.
The Falcon 9 picked up at 22:59 east of the Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, after adverse weather conditions caused a one-day delay. The rocket released its payload of 60 Starlink satellites into orbit 65 minutes after the ramp.
However, the rocket’s first phase did not end up on a drone in the Atlantic Ocean as planned. The video of the drone at the time of landing showed a glow in the distance, indicating a problem with the booster that caused it to go off course or that he deliberately distracted from the landing attempt. SpaceX did not immediately disclose what happened during the failed landing.
The failure broke a series of 24 consecutive Falcon 9 launches with successful landings, either on droneships or on land. The last failure occurred in March 2020 and was the second failure in three launches of Falcon 9. The March failure was caused by engine cleaning fluid trapped inside and obstructed by a sensor, while incorrect wind data found the earlier failure .
The booster during this launch made its sixth flight. It first flew on a cargo-dragon mission in December 2019 and then used it for another cargo-dragon in March 2020. He then launched a set of Starlink satellites with three SkySats for Planet in June, followed by SAOCOM-1B in August and the NROL-108 mission for the National Exploration Office in December.
However, the main purpose of the mission was a success, which contributed to the increasing constellation of Starlink satellites. SpaceX is expanding its beta testing program and now has more than 10,000 users in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom, according to a February 3 submission to the Federal Communications Commission.
However, SpaceX is facing renewed opposition from some organizations over the nearly $ 885.5 million in FCC Rural Digital Opportunity Fund (RDOF) grants it won in December. In a recent white paper, the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association and National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC) argued that the FCC should thoroughly investigate SpaceX’s plans to provide broadband Internet services via satellite. According to these groups, the offers by rural co-operatives for RDOF funding to provide broadband services were excluded by both SpaceX and fixed wireless networks.
“Although the delivery of broadband services at the speed promised by these applicants may be viable, this service is currently available in beta testing and on a limited basis in extremely limited areas, and there are still questions,” the article. “The award of bids to experimental and unproven LEO satellite service is a direct conflict with the rules of the RDOF program.
“I’m really struggling with the physics and economy” of satellite broadband, said Tim Bryan, CEO of the NRTC, in a call with reporters on February 4. He claims there have been ‘anecdotal reports’ of people signing up for Starlink beta but having trouble getting faster than four megabits per second but not expanding.
“Starlink’s performance is not theoretical or experimental,” SpaceX noted in the February 3 FCC submission. The company said it has already shown that it can reach or exceed key performance levels, including 100 megabits per second data to customers and 20 megabits per second data from it, as well as latencies of 31 milliseconds or less.
Bryan said the issue of his group is how Starlink can expand to serve larger numbers of customers. “My concern is mostly not the ability of one or two users, but what happens when you reach 20, 30 or 40 or 50 thousand users,” he said.
“I have no doubt that the Starlink constellation can be successful in some areas, and in some cases can provide coverage over areas such as the deep blue sea and such places,” he said. “I’m struggling to see how it will reliably deliver 100 megabit service to the literally hundreds and thousands of customers in the census block groups he has offered.”