SpaceX launches Spanish satellite for 50th successful Falcon 9 mission
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- SpaceX notched its 50th successful Falcon 9 rocket mission early Tuesday, lifting the heaviest communications satellite the rocket has carried yet from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Igniting nine Merlin engines at 12:33 a.m., the 230-foot rocket roared into darkness from Launch Complex 40 with a Spanish satellite Elon Musk described as "almost the size of a city bus."
Rough seas prevented SpaceX from attempting to land the Falcon 9's first-stage booster, which was expected to be destroyed when it splashed down in 26-foot waves.
The rocket's 50th successful mission took flight less than eight years after the first launched from the same pad on June 4, 2010, flying a demonstration mission for NASA.
SpaceX then was unproven startup regarded with skepticism by much of the industry — especially CEO Elon Musk’s brash promises to land and reuse rockets. It had been on the brink of failure in 2008 before a successful launch of the much smaller Falcon 1 rocket, after several mishaps, led to a major NASA contract.
Flash forward to today: SpaceX has landed Falcon boosters 23 times and re-flown boosters nine times, including two on last month’s inaugural launch of the Falcon Heavy, the world’s new most powerful rocket.
The Falcon 9 achieved 50 successful launches more than four years faster than United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V, which debuted in 2002 and has been the U.S. government’s workhorse for national security and high-value science payloads.
Igniting nine Merlin engines at 12:33 a.m., the 230-foot rocket roared into darkness from Launch Complex 40 with a Spanish satellite Elon Musk described as "almost the size of a city bus."
Rough seas prevented SpaceX from attempting to land the Falcon 9's first-stage booster, which was expected to be destroyed when it splashed down in 26-foot waves.
The rocket's 50th successful mission took flight less than eight years after the first launched from the same pad on June 4, 2010, flying a demonstration mission for NASA.
SpaceX then was unproven startup regarded with skepticism by much of the industry — especially CEO Elon Musk’s brash promises to land and reuse rockets. It had been on the brink of failure in 2008 before a successful launch of the much smaller Falcon 1 rocket, after several mishaps, led to a major NASA contract.
Flash forward to today: SpaceX has landed Falcon boosters 23 times and re-flown boosters nine times, including two on last month’s inaugural launch of the Falcon Heavy, the world’s new most powerful rocket.
The Falcon 9 achieved 50 successful launches more than four years faster than United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V, which debuted in 2002 and has been the U.S. government’s workhorse for national security and high-value science payloads.
Source: wtsp
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