As SpaceX continues to excel in its reusable launch rocket tech, we are seeing much more frequent launches aboard the company’s Falcon 9 rockets. And one of those frequent launch is of yet another Starlink batch, which was successfully put into orbit today by SpaceX’s bellwether Falcon 9 rocket.
This was the eighth launch and landing of this Falcon 9 first stage booster, which previously launched NASA astronauts Bob Behnken and Doug Hurley to the International Space Station, ANASIS-II, CRS-21, Transporter-1, and three Starlink missions.
Following stage separation, SpaceX also successfully landed Falcon 9’s first stage on the “Of Course I Still Love You” droneship, located in the Atlantic Ocean. One half of Falcon 9’s fairing previously supported the SXM-7 mission, and the other previously supported the NROL-108 mission.
This is the third such batch that SpaceX has successfully launched this month. However, unlike the batch size was slightly smaller, at 52 satellites, due to the launch also being a part of SpaceX’s rideshare program. Deployment of the other two satellites — Tyvak-0130 and a Capella Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite — was also confirmed.
SpaceX has been making rapid progress on operationalising its Starlink-powered satellite internet. Apart from now frequenting nearly 4-5 launches a month, the space company also recently cemented a partnership with Google Cloud, for the global deployment of its satellite internet services.
