SpaceX puts another 60 Starlinks into orbit
November 25, 2020
By Chris Forrester
SpaceX has launched one of its Falcon 9 first stage rockets for a record seventh time. Elon Musk’s team now seems unbeatable in terms of the launch, recovery and reuse of its rocket system. SpaceX continuity announcer, Kate Tyce, simply stated that “for the seventh time, this Falcon has landed” as she described a flawless landing.
The other records broken followed the two-stage Falcon 9 rocket blasting off from Space Launch Complex 40 in Florida (November 24th locally, at 9:13 p.m. EDT and 02.13 GMT on November 25th), marking the 23rd launch of the year and the 100th flight overall for SpaceX’s now extraordinarily-reliable Falcon 9. This was the 67th recovery of a Falcon’s first stage since SpaceX brought back its first booster back in 2015.
Some nine minutes later, SpaceX totally nailed a perfect landing on its ‘Of Course I Still Love You’ floating barge.
SpaceX has now launched more than 900 Starlinks into orbit. While a handful have apparently failed in orbit and some of the very earliest have been deorbited, it is now clear that Musk plans to offer a global service in 2021.
Early users of Starlink’s ‘beta’ testing regimen are to be widened across the US and perhaps further afield, according to SpaceX officials.