This has been our busiest year yet when it comes to SpaceX rocket launches.
For example, Elon Musk’s commercial spaceflight company achieved a total of 26 launches in 2020, but last year sent 31 rockets into the sky, all of which involved the highly reliable Falcon 9 rocket. was
But this year, SpaceX accomplished a whopping 61 missions. The final mission for 2022 launched early Friday, US Eastern time. More powerful with November launch Triple Booster Falcon Heavy Rocket Deploy two US Space Force satellites.
California-based SpaceX has clearly come a long way since making its first cargo flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2012.
In addition to deploying a number of satellites in low earth orbit for various customers, we will begin regular manned flight operations with the ISS in 2020, allowing NASA to send astronauts from the continental United States for the first time since the Space Shuttle program. made it possible to launch into space. Ended in 2011.
One of the reasons SpaceX has been able to increase its launch frequency is because of the Falcon 9 design. This allows for a first stage landing and allows for easy deployment across multiple missions. This will allow SpaceX to focus on refurbishing smaller fleets of rockets instead of having to spend a lot of money building large numbers of expendable boosters.
To date, SpaceX has achieved 198 rocket launches, 159 booster landings and 133 re-flights.
With more customers looking to put small satellites into orbit, SpaceX is also using its spaceflight hardware to deploy a number of satellites. Starlink Internet Satellite2023 looks to be an even busier year for SpaceX.
Looking further ahead, SpaceX is also preparing for the maiden flights of its next-generation super-heavy rockets and Starship spacecraft. A version of the Starship is set to land the first woman and the first man of color on the moon years from now on NASA’s Artemis III mission, and it could even carry the first astronaut to Mars. increase.
The Starship will also carry passengers on its first civilian mission to the moon after being bought by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. 9 seats for Dear Moon Mission It involves a lunar flyby before returning home. The voyage is set for 2023, but SpaceX will likely miss that date due to delayed testing of the Super Heavy Rocket and Starship.
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