SpaceX pulled off a doubleheader in a single day on Friday (Nov. 14), launching two rockets lower than 4 hours other than Florida’s Area Coast.
The motion began Friday at 10:08 p.m. EST (0308 GMT on Saturday, Nov. 15), when a Falcon 9 rocket topped with 29 of SpaceX’s Starlink web satellites lifted off from historic Pad 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Area Heart (KSC) in Florida.
Then, at 1:44 a.m. EST (0644 GMT) on Saturday, one other Falcon 9 launched 29 Starlinks from Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station, which is subsequent door to KSC.
That rocket’s first stage aced its touchdown, which occurred within the Atlantic on the drone ship “Simply Learn the Directions.” If all goes to plan, the 29 Starlink spacecraft can be deployed into LEO about 65 minutes after liftoff.
The 2 launches have been the 145th and 146th Falcon 9 missions of the yr for SpaceX.
Greater than 100 of those flights have been dedicated to constructing out the Starlink megaconstellation, by far the biggest satellite tv for pc community ever assembled. There are at present greater than 8,900 operational Starlink satellites in LEO, and the quantity is rising on a regular basis.
Three hours and 36 minutes between launches is sort of fast, however it’s not a file; on Aug. 31, 2024, SpaceX launched two Falcon 9 Starlink missions simply 65 minutes aside. One flew from Cape Canaveral Area Pressure Station, and the opposite lifted off from Vandenberg Area Pressure Base in California.
