SpaceX released a new batch of sixty Starlink satellites into orbit this Sunday, March 14. Named B1051, the Falcon 9 booster then returned to land successfully at sea for the ninth time.
Sunday's mission (the eighth total flight for SpaceX in 2021) has a special flavor. The launcher took off from Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center around noon (French time). About nine minutes later, the rocket's first stage returned to Earth to attempt its ninth landing on his platform "Of Course, I Still Love You deployed off Florida. Never has a Falcon 9 booster flown so much.
The B1051 was first deployed in March 2019, releasing an unmanned Crew Dragon capsule into space to the International Space Station (ISS) as part of a demonstration mission.
The booster then distinguished itself by delivering a trio of Earth observation satellites for Canada from California. It then flew five times on Starlink missions, before delivering a broadband satellite for Sirius XM.
As a reminder, SpaceX has designed its Falcon boosters to fly up to ten times with little or no renovations needed. This new Sunday mission therefore brings the company closer to this incredible milestone.
For this year 2021, the rate of launches of the Falcon 9 should intensify even more, fueled by the deployments of Starlink satellites. At the same time, the company will continue to send astronauts to the ISS and intends to multiply the tests of the Starship, its future interplanetary and reusable vessel.
With the success of tonight's launch, SpaceX already has over 1,300 satellites Starlink in orbit. Note that the company's initial constellation will consist of 1440 of these instruments, but there are plans to release at least 12,000 over the next few years .
Currently, Starlink is still in beta testing. Select users in the US, Canada, UK, Germany and now New Zealand can now access the service.
Finally, let's remember that in France, France Insoumise, political party of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, had recently called for a moratorium against the implementation of this project in our country. If accepted, the French should have been called upon to decide on the launch of this project. Ultimately, this recent amendment was ruled inadmissible after publication.
