On Wednesday night, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California.
The rocket successfully lifted off from the base at 9:09 p.m. PDT, carrying a group of Starlink satellites into orbit.
Tuesday night’s launch was aborted five seconds before the scheduled lift-off time of 10:25 p.m. Yesterday’s mission was the second attempt to launch the rocket into space.
According to the company, 15 satellites were carried to low-Earth orbit during Wednesday night’s mission.
Starlink is an initiative by SpaceX’s satellite network which was designed to bring low-cost internet service to rural/remote communities.
After previous successful launches, CNET reported that Starlink has over 4,200 functional satellites orbiting the Earth. The company aims to build a giant constellation of broadband satellites across the globe. These launches further add to the fulfilment of this goal.
Following stage separation after liftoff, the Falcon’s reusable booster is scheduled to land back on the spaceport drone ship, “Of Course I Still Love You,” in the Pacific Ocean.
Falcon 9’s first stage has landed on the Of Course I Still Love You droneship pic.twitter.com/cIwzaZC6VU
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) July 20, 2023
As reported by SpaceX, the Falcon 9 rocket is the “world’s first orbital class reusable rocket.” It can safely transport people and payloads into the Earth’s orbit and beyond.
Till now, the entire fleet of Falcon 9 rockets boasts 246 total launches, 207 landings and 180 reflights. This particular Falcon 9 rocket has completed nine liftoffs and landings so far.
Source- Hindustan Times.
