SpaceX has managed to launch two Falcon 9 missions in the space of just 48 Hours. The agency that prides itself on being the first-ever to reuse the first-stage rocket for several launches has been continuously pursuing faster launches. This latest achievement puts another feather in SpaceX’s cap, which has now launched nine successful missions in the first six months of 2017, the most ever for the Elon Musk-owned company.
Two Falcon 9 launches in just 48 hours
The rocket took off at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 25, from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
It carried ten satellites for the communications company, Iridium. The ten satellites will join the previous ten from Iridium that are already in orbit. The company intends to launch 75 communications satellites in total in order to improve phone, data and aircraft tracking throughout the globe.
The first stage of the Falcon 9 returned to Earth after delivering the payload into orbit and landed on the drone ship named “Just Read the Instructions,” operating in the Pacific Ocean. This landing was the 13th successful consecutive landings for SpaceX, out which eight have been at sea. The company has not failed a landing since summer 2016.
SpaceX introduced the method of launching a rocket then reusing the same one for later launches as well.
This has been the key strategy behind the Elon Musk-owned company’s plans of cutting launch costs, as well as its goal of increasing the pace of subsequent launches. Recovering the first stage of the rocket means that the company would not have to spend millions of dollars on creating a first-stage from scratch.
However, the Falcon 9 used for Sunday’s launch was different from previous versions of the rocket.
The new one sported upgraded titanium hypersonic grid fins, which were said to withstand the immensely high temperatures during re-entry without the need of shielding. After the successful launch, Musk himself revealed on Twitter that the new material had worked better than the company had estimated.
Falcon 9 launched on Friday
Before Sunday’s launch, SpaceX also launched a refurbished Falcon 9 rocket from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center on Friday, merely 48 hours before the Vandenberg launch. The rocket carried Bulgaria’s first-ever communications satellite into space and then made a landing at sea on the drone ship “Of Course I Still Love You,” operating in the Atlantic Ocean. With all these launches, the company has been especially busy as of late. The string of successful missions will surely satisfy the company.
