Cape Canaveral, Flat. SpaceX It has just launched a Falcon 9 rocket for the record seventh time. Booster took the entire collection of 60 Starlink Internet satellites to Bit Rabbit and then launched a landing oil into the sea.
Two stages Falcon 9 rockets Today took off from Space Launch Complex 40 here (November 24) at 9:13 pm EDT (0213 GMT on November 25) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, marking the company’s 23rd start of the year and a total of 100. The 5th flight was marked. Falcon 9.
About 9 minutes later, the first phase of the booster returned to Earth, landing in a seamless touchdown on a SpaceX drone in the Atlantic Ocean. The giant ship, dubbed “Of course I still love it”, is one of two companies in the Recovery Ships’ fleet that catches falling boosters and sends them back to port.
“This is the seventh time the Falcon has landed,” said SpaceX engineer Kate Tais during a live broadcast.
Related: SpaceX launches Starlink Satellite Megaconstellation in Photos
This was the third attempt to get the mission off the ground. SpaceX actually planned for one Doubleheader At the end of the week, as if it were a success Elevated the Sentinel-6 satellite In the bit rabbit of NASA and many participants, but then had to do Stand up Try more checkout on Rocket from Starlink. Another attempt was scheduled for Monday (November 23), but due to bad weather conditions in the recovery zone, SpaceX postponed the flight for another 24 hours.
It was raining on the space coast which cleared just before the lift off tonight. As it climbed over the clouds at night, it thundered from above. As the first phase of the rocket parted to return to Earth, the clouds cleared and viewers could see the second phase single engine.
The first stage booster on display today, known as the B1049, is now Seven launches and landings Under its belt – the first falcon with much flying experience 9. This often Flair has now launched five different Starlink batches into space, as well as a set of Iridium Next Satellite and Telstar 18V missions. Landing marks Falcon’s 67th recovery since SpaceX Regained its first booster in 2015.
Reusable rockets
Today’s flight launched the 23rd SpaceX of 2020, the company’s most trending year so far. (The previous record was set in 2018, when the company launched 21 times.) The Flycon 9 also marks the 100th launch of the rocket.
Last month, the California-based aerospace company reached the milestone of 100 flights for its rocket Falcon series, including the Falcon 1 and Falcon Heavy. The company released a Video that highlights that achievement. But now the Falcon 9 has automatically reached 100.
SpaceX launched tonight’s Starlink mission a few hours later Its SN8 Starship rocket prototype has been tested In Texas. The SN8’s engines blazed several seconds before the planned test flight, which could take place early next week.
2020 is already the banner year of SpaceX. Records include 23 launches Two different space missions In the last six months, for the International Space Station, the first private pilots flew to the aerospace laboratory. This achievement is facilitated by SpaceX’s fleet of flight-proof boosters. SpaceX currently has 10 veteran boosters in its rocket arsenal and three brand new heavy boosters that will be used for upcoming military missions. SpaceX has relied on its frequent flying movies, now launching more refreshed rockets than new ones.
To end this period of rapid reusability, SpaceX launched A soup-up version of its workhorse, Falcon 9 Block 5 in the first phase, in 2018. This upgraded iteration has many new features, including a more robust thermal protection system, a titanium grid finish, a more stable interstage (a hardware that connects the two phases of the rocket) and a more powerful engine.
After launching its first payload in 2018, a communications satellite for Bangladesh, the now-upgraded Falcon 9 has performed reliably (although the rocket has left two launchpads incomplete in recent months). With the start of that 2018, the company said goodbye to the last mode breast reusable falcons, ushering in a new era in which the same rocket is capable of flying multiple times.
Ever since SpaceX started working on its reusable rocket technology. Along with the flight-proof rocket, its record-breaking record also entitled the company to launch US military and national security payments, as well as astronauts. Rockets were fired first.
And now the company has launched and landed the same rocket a record seven times.
Related: Take a space (and rear) ride on the SpaceX Falcon 9 in this awesome video
A Starlink Megaconstellation
SpaceX has set its sights on Mars and hopes to help humanity create multilingual species. To help raise money to achieve that daring goal, the company plans to blanket the earth with Internet coverage influenced by Broadband Satellite’s network. This Starlink megaconstellation will involve thousands of satellites, flying close to the planet in the low orbit of the Earth.
With the launch tonight, the company has now launched more than 900 quarter-ton, flat-panel satellites into space – a milestone that will help SpaceX launch its Starlink Internet service. The service may be offered worldwide, before regular interruptions can still be overcome and services can be launched before launch, but initial testing promises, company representatives said. Said.
Of SpaceX Starlink Megaconstellation One of the main goals in mind is to provide more affordable high speed internet access worldwide, especially for those in rural and remote areas. For this, the company initially planned a fleet of 1,440 satellites, but later received approval for thousands more.
The US Federal Communications Commission has allowed SpaceX to launch about 12,000 flat-panel broadband satellites, but SpaceX may not stop there. The company has indicated it may seek approval to unload 30,000 more Starlink satellites for high-speed, low-latency Internet signals.
Related: Why SpaceX’s Starlink satellites caught astronomers off guard
Beta testing
Increasing Internet service is already a Private beta-testing program Where company employees deploy broadband services at their own pace. According to reports from SpaceX team members, current data indicates that the service may support several high-definition streams simultaneously.
SpaceX recently launched A.S. Public beta-testing program, Invites users to purchase ground equipment and then check the service. This test program, known as “Beta Nothing Better”, requires users to purchase Starlink’s ground equipment at 4 9,499 and then pay a $ 99 monthly fee for active service.
Initial public beta testing was limited, but more calls are expected in the public month before government service begins. The project engineers held a Reddit AMA (“Ask Me Something”) over the weekend where they answered questions about the service.
“Starlink is a very flexible system and will get better over time as we make the software smarter. Latency, bandwidth and reliability can all be significantly improved, “the engineers wrote under the Reddit username” Dishimacflatface “for the Starlink Satellite Dish, nicknamed SpaceX.
The Starlink team also revealed that SpaceX “is constantly expanding its network reach over time to bring in more people,” the team wrote. AMA thread. “In particular, we plan to move from a limited beta to a larger beta at the end of January, to give more users a chance to participate.”
“Data viewing speed is different from 50 Mbps [megabits per second] To 20 ms to 150 Mbps and delay [milliseconds] Over the next several months, there will be up to 40 million “short contact times,” an invitation sent to Reddit by another person in Washington State and another in Wisconsin.
At AMA, Starlink team members addressed questions about latency and dropout that users were experiencing.
“You should think of the communication between the Starlink dish and the satellite in space as a ‘thin beam’ between DC and the satellite.” He wrote. “Therefore, as the satellite moves faster upwards, if there is a branch or pole between the bowl and the satellite, you will usually lose the connection (note – interruptions usually cause outages.” And does not slow down!). “
The Starlink team also explained how the bowl detects the satellite. “[The dish] In the case of milliseconds, the sky is able to be electronically scanned and locked in the satellite’s overhead, even if it is traveling overhead at 17,500 miles per hour. ” DishyMcFlatface responded. “When it detects a satellite, Starlink returns to its location and requests to be connected to the Internet. After that, the bowl will be able to talk to the next device. Is enabled, and with it the correct gesture. Satellite when the time comes. “
The Starlink team also stated that they are open to user feedback on how to improve the plug-and-play experience. “We’ve worked hard and used a lot of creative ideas on how to make it possible to simplify an experiment – including mounting solutions, automatic pointing of dishes, and general unboxing.” The project engineer wrote.
Dynamic pair
As part of its recovery efforts, SpaceX deployed two of its twin fair catcher boats – Geo Mrs. Chief. (The payload revolves around lowering satellites, protecting them during launch. SpaceX Fairings returns to Earth in two pieces.)
The other boat, the Geo Mrs. Tree, has also been sidelined after being damaged on a previous mission. The ship has been spotted leaving Port Canaveral this week and is expected to return to service before conducting some sea trials.
To assist CM Geo, Geo Search, one of SpaceX’s dragon recovery ships, has been turned into a fairing catcher to assist in the recovery efforts.
Recovery efforts with Geo Mrs. Chief should take place approximately 45 minutes after the start.
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